Always There For You
by AlyRain
Summary: What happens when the daughter of Heero Yuy meets the son of Duo Maxwell?
1. Ch 1

Always There For You By AlyRain

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters in any way shape or form. If I did I probably wouldn't be writing fan fics I'd just add on to the series. Hehe.

Authors Notes: '...' are thoughts. Also, this is one of my first attempts at writing a Gundam Wing fanfic, so please be kind! Please review it means a lot to me! Now on with the story!

Chapter 1:

A.C. 199, Fall

Relena Dorlain was in her large office in the tall building across the street from the Preventors headquarters building in Los Angeles, California, former USA. She was sitting at her desk staring out the floor-to-ceiling windows behind it. Turning her chair back around to face her desk, Relena looked back down at the gargantuan report lying on her desk. The report she was finishing was for a colony she had recently visited and had met with the leader.

Relena scribbled a few notes in the left margin of her current and final page. Without stopping her pen strokes, she glanced at the clock sitting on the left side of her desk.

"7:15," she said, softly reading the glowing numbers. "I believe it is time to go visit Noin and Milliardo." Relena thought out loud.

Relena's brother, Milliardo, and Noin had sneaked off to space shortly after the battles with the Barton foundation in A.C. 196 had ended. Milliardo and Noin had returned a few months later as newly-weds.

Relena could not be happier for her brother. She was glad he had found some happiness and such a great wife. Predictably enough, Relena and Noin had become even closer friends after they had become sister-in-laws.

Neither Relena nor Zechs lived in the Peacecraft mansion in the Cinq kingdom because it was so far from their individual places of business. Instead, they both owned their own mansions and they did not get to see each other very often, which was why Relena went to visit her brother before he left work.

Relena went to visit her brother and his wife daily if she was on Earth. She would also visit Heero, Quatre, Duo, and Hilde if they were around. The three former Gundam pilots and Hilde had all joined the Preventors shortly after Wufei had. However, they had each joined for different reasons.

Quatre had joined the Preventors as something to do besides the bureaucratic work he had inherited from the Winner Corporation after his father's death two years before.

Heero had joined mainly because he needed a steady job. Afterall, in a time of peace, professional assassins were not really needed.

Duo and Hilde had joined for a stable job outside of the salvage business. Not to say they did not profit enough money from the salvage business to support them and their son, the salvage business made them lots of money. But, they preferred to just run the salvage business in the summer as more of a hobby really. Since it was fall, the Maxwells were living at their large house not far from the Preventors building until they would return to their home and salvage business on the L2 colony for the summer.

Yep, Hilde and Duo got married not so long after the Eve Wars of A.C. 196. They had married somewhat young at the age of 17, but they had stuck it out and were incredibly happy. The pair had been married for two years and had a darling year-old, baby son as well.

Relena sighed and set down the ballpoint pen she had been writing with. She stood up from her chair and walked over to the coat rack by the door. She slipped on her navy blue pea coat and buttoned it while she walked back over to the desk desk. Leaning over the desk, Relena picked up black leather portfolio and walked out the door. After switching off the light, she closed the door behind herself.

Relena locked the door to her office, then pulled a stack of mail out of the tray on the door, sorting through it as she continued down the hall towards the elevator. She pushed the down button without looking up from her stack of mail and walked in when she heard the ding of the elevator arriving. She only looked up briefly to push the button for the first floor before continuing through the stack of mail. Relena pulled one envelope out of the stack and opened it. Inside was a birthday card that was a day early.

The Peacecraft heiress sighed. The following day was her birthday. Relena did not have anything planned, she had forgotten all about her birthday. Work as the vice foreign minister kept her so preoccupied that dates other than deadlines had very little significance to her. Relena did not really look forward to her birthday anymore; so what if she was a year older, big deal! That was another reason why she had forgotten her birthday was the following day-she could care less.

"I bet I will have a 'surprise' party again this year." Relena muttered to herself. "Ugh what a cliché! I just wish something different, something more exciting would happen this year."

The elevator doors opened after the ding of the bell signaling that she had arrived on the first floor, causing her to stir out of her thoughts. Relena stepped out and walked to the revolving glass doors. Pulling her portfolio tightly to her side, she walked out of the building and jogged quickly across the street, then into the Preventors building.

Once Inside the Preventors building, Relena went to the elevators and took one up to the floor that Milliardo's office resided on. She then walked down the hallway to the third office on the left.

Noin had been talking to her husband, Milliardo, for the past half hour when Relena walked in. Both Milliardo and Noin glanced towards the door.

"Hello Relena." Noin said with a friendly smile as she stood from where she had sat perched on the edge of Milliardo's desk.

"Hello Noin, Milliardo." Relena said in a light voice before walking over and hugging the both of them. Relena sat down gracefully in a chair in front of Milliardo's desk.

"So Relena do you have any plans for your birthday tomorrow?" Milliardo asked.

Milliardo, Noin, and Relena talked for nearly an hour before Relena left to visit Quatre, Heero, Duo and Hilde. Relena took the elevator back down to the first floor, then walked down the hall towards the lounge where she would meet the four former pilots. On her way to the lounge, Relena was accosted by Lady Une.

"Hello Miss. Relena." Lady Une said with a kind smile. Relena smiled warmly at her.

"Good evening."

Relena had long ago forgiven Lady Une for the death of her adoptive father, Vice Foreign Minister Dorlain. She knew all too well what wars could do to people. Relena had some sympathy for Lady Une, who had asked Relena in tears to forgive her after first requesting her to avenge her father's death and Relena had refused.

The two females passed by each other and Relena walked into the lounge. She looked around to see Quatre, Hilde, and Duo sitting in various chairs around the room, chattering jovially. 'Where's Heero?' She wondered. The trio ceased talking upon Relena's entrance and looked up, giving their various greetings.

Relena sat in a chair next to Hilde and brought up the question she had had on her mind since first entering the room and noticing Heero's absence.

"Where is Heero?"

"Oh! I completely forgot! I'm sorry. Heero left early today; said he had to go pick up a parcel that had come in. Whatever that means. He also said to give this to you when you arrived." Quatre explained. He handed Relena a folded piece of paper. She nodded and slipped the note into her coat pocket.

Heero and Relena had gotten into the routine of jogging together every night together after she had visited her brother and the other former pilots. Not long after the former pilots had joined the Preventors she had gotten on rather friendly terms with the four as well as Sally, Trowa, and Wufei. However, Trowa she saw less frequently as he only visited the other pilots on scarce occasions. And Wufei, he still had issues to work out with women.

Heero had changed the most since the wars. He showed a little more emotion and he seemed much happier than when Relena had first met him. The former Wing Zero pilot felt that he owed Relena for the way he had treated her in the past. And, he still felt an unyeilding urge to protect to the petite blonde. Which is why they went jogging in the park every night and would sometimes sit and talk.

Relena still deeply cared for Heero of course, but he still seemed to only see her as a somewhat foolish young girl rather than the mature diplomat she had become. Even as time went by and Relena and Heero grew closer, she could not bring herself to admit her feelings for him.

"Thank you." Relena said, smiling warmly at Quatre.

She brought her gaze down to look at Hilde and Duo's son, Derek, as Hilde handed him to her.

"Well hello cutie!" The baby smiled back and giggled.

The group talked together for a short while longer before they all parted ways so Hilde and Duo could go take Derek home. Outside of the main doors of the Preventors building the group said their goodbyes and Relena got into the limo that had been waiting beside the curb.

Once seated in the back of her limo Relena pulled the folded note out of her coat pocket. She unfolded it and studied the angular handwriting flowing across the page.

'Relena,  
sorry I could not go for our run today I had to pick up a package out of town. I will not be able to make it in time for your birthday tomorrow night. I promise I will make it up to you. Please meet me in the park at 10:00 p.m. tomorrow night next to the fountain. -Heero'

Relena read the note quickly then folded it back up and returned it to her pocket. She smiled sadly at the passing houses and palm trees on the route to her home.

'Tomorrow at 10:00.' She whispered to herself.

The next evening, Relena arrived at the Preventors building around the same time as usual. Instead of going straight to her brother's office, Relena walked up to the door of the lounge. She inhaled deeply and exhaled softly.

'Well this is it, try to act surprised Relena.' She thought to herself as she pushed open the door and...

"SURPRISE!"

"Happy birthday Relena!" Relena was showered with a wave of confetti. She put on a mask of surprise as she walked all the way into the room and looked around. The room was dappled with various, colorful birthday decorations such as streamers, balloons, and crepe paper spread around the entire room. The five of six former gundam pilots, Hilde, Noin, Lady Une, and Sally Po stood in front of Relena smiling. Duo was holding Derek who was grinning broadly. Relena laughed while she thanked and hugged everyone.

First, Relena received her presents, which she again thanked everyone for. After that, Duo walked over to a table set up with different snack foods and picked up a cake sitting on top. He brought it over to where the others were sitting and set the frosted pastry down on the coffee table in front of Relena.

"Come on Relena! Blow out the candles!" Hilde said while Duo sat back down next to her.

"Yeah hurry up! I want to eat some cake!" Duo said, retrieving Derek, who Quatre had been holding, and set him on his own lap. Everyone laughed at Duo's little comment. Relena held back her hair and blew out the candles on the cake. To Duo's delight, the cake was cut and passed out.

The group continued eating and chattering for another hour before everyone started gathering their belongings and departing. Relena thanked everyone for the kazillionth time that night as she busily hugged all of her friends goodbye, kissing her "nephew" Derek on the cheek.

When Relena arrived in the park she was out of breath from sprinting. As she approached the fountain in the center of the park, the Peacecraft girl slowed down to a brisk walk. The park was entirely deserted. The stars and moon were covered by thick clouds, leaving the dim lights inside of the fountain, reflecting eerily off the water as the only light source.

Relena shivered as a gust of wind blew past her. She glanced at her watch, then sat down on the bench facing the fountain while she waited for Heero.

Impatience getting the better of her, Relena checked her watch again-it was 10:15. She wondered what was keeping Heero. The former Wing Zero pilot was never late.

Another fifteen minutes dragged by and Relena grew more than a little anxious.

"I will wait for just a little longer then I am going to head home." Relena said to herself with a sigh.

That's when the rain started. Without warning, it was suddenly pouring down rain. Relena muttered under her breath about her luck and wished she had brought an umbrella. Even with the rain pouring on and on, Relena decided to stay and wait for Heero. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, curling up tightly, and laid her chin on her knees.

Another ten minutes passed and still no Heero. Relena was soaked to the bone, but refused to give up hope for Heero's arrival.

'Where's Heero? I hope nothing's happened to him.' She thought to herself, growing increasingly worried. The blonde sighed and buried her face in her knees listening to the tap-tap-tap of the rain falling onto her wet head.

It was not until she felt someone's presence in front of her that Relena looked up.

"Heero, you're here." She said softly. "I waited for you, and then it started raining..."

Heero smiled lightly at her. Relena still could not get over how beautiful he looked with even the smallest hint of a small. She felt her breath catch in her throat/

"I'm sorry I'm so late...I wasn't sure you would still be here...then the rain..." He replied.

"It's all right. I wanted to wait." Relena said, brushing back her wet bangs. Heero grasped her hand and helped her stand up.

"Relena, you're completely soaked." Heero remarked, looking her over. She shrugged.

"Forgot my umbrella." Relena said simply while she shivered. Heero took off his jacket, which much drier than hers, and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Thank you." She said, smiling up at him. He nodded.

"Sorry I missed your party."

"It's fine, it was pretty much the same as last year."

"I know, but I'm still sorry I couldn't make it."

"Well there is always next year." Relena pointed out. Heero nodded again.

"True. But, I guess it isn't too late to give you your present." Heero said and Relena raised her eyebrows. Avoiding her curious stare, Heero looked down at the ground.

"But first I have to say something," He began, still looking at the ground. "I know how you feel about me...You have been to hide it because of the way you thought I felt...am I right?" Heero asked while raising an eyebrow as he glanced at her for a moment. He looked back down at the ground when Relena did not say anything; she just stood there stunned.

Heero continued, "Well I have not been entirely honest either..." Heero said, taking her hands in his and looking at her face.

Relena's eyes were full of awe and wonder. Heero leaned in and kissed her very lightly on the lips. His lips brushed hers so softly that Relena wondered if she had imagined it.

"I love you Relena." Heero said softly. The girl was so utterly shocked by this that she could do little more than stand there, staring at him for a long time.

"I had to tell you that before I gave you this..." Heero said letting go of her hands and reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a black velvet box and opened it, holding it out to the girl. She looked inside and he breath caught again. Relena blinked a few times to see if she was daydreaming, but it really was an engagement ring inside.

"Relena will you marry me?" Heero asked, looking into her eyes. Relena searched Heero's whole face before returning her gaze to his dark blue eyes. She had never seen them so bright, so full of life and love.

Breaking away from his gaze, Relena looked down at the ground and Heero could hear the sounds of her sobbing quietly.

"Relena what's wrong?" Heero asked with a concern. Perhaps he had made a mistake in rushing a marriage proposal so soon after admitting his feelings for the girl.

Relena sniffled and shook her head. She looked back up at him. Her face was no longer just wet with rainwater, there were tears there too. Heero's look of concern melted away when he saw that she was smiling, she had not been crying tears of sorrow, but tears of happiness. Heero felt his heart flutter. No one had ever looked at him with so much adoration before.

'Even soaked with rain she looks beautiful.' Heero thought to himself.

"Yes...yes I'll marry you Heero...I love you so much!" With that, Relena flung herself at him and held him tightly. Heero wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back.

'Hmm it feels so good to be in your arms...' Relena thought happily. 'My wish came true after all...something new and exciting, true love.' Her heart was dancing.

"Happy birthday Relena." Heero said, kissing her forehead lightly. In that brief moment neither of them cared about the rain or the past. All that mattered in the world was that they were together. Nothing could change that.

"It's late, and we're both soaked now." Heero said with a light laugh. Relena giggled and nodded in agreement. With his arm around her waist they left the park, both of their hearts soaring.

Two years later, Relena and Heero had been married for a year and a half and lived together in Relena's mansion on the outskirts of L.A. Surprisingly enough, Milliardo had been kind to Heero and had welcomed him into the family warm-heartedly. Milliardo and Heero had settled their differences back when Heero had joined the Preventors. They had decided that the past could not be altered and it was best to just move on and over come all of theirr grudges.

Milliardo and Heero were almost friends. Almost. They still had conflicts in opinions every once in a while. It led to mild disagreements that fizzled out after about five minutes.

Relena and Heero had had a nice wedding in the spring after Relena's birthday. Not long after, Relena discovered she was pregnant and that the baby was due in December. It seemed as though everything in the Yuy family was going to be perfect.

That December, Duo, Hilde, Quatre, Noin, and Milliardo came rushing into the hospital room to find Relena sitting up in bed and Heero standing next to her, cradling a sleeping baby. Noticing the baby was asleep, they crept in quietly to avoid disturbing it.

"It's a girl." Relena said softly.

"Ohhhh how precious!" Noin said quietly as Heero handed her the little bundle. The others crowded around her to get a glimpse of the newborn. Heero sat down on the edge of Relena's bed and held her hand. They both smiled. Derek, who was two at the time, stood on his tiptoes to look at the baby.

"It looks like a wrinkled pink prune." Derek said, wrinkling up his nose. Everyone laughed quietly.

"Sweety, all newborns look like that when they're born." Hilde said, taking his hand.

"They do? Even me?" He asked. Hilde and the adults around him nodded.

"Ewwww!" Derek said as wrinkled his nose again, then grinned.

"Sally and the others said they were sorry they couldn't make it. They got swamped with work." Duo said after looking at Relena and Heero's baby. The Yuy couple both nodded understandingly. Relena looked down to see Hilde and Duo's two year old son walking clumsily over to her. She scooped him up and set him on her lap.

"And who could this be?" Relena said as the little boy started reaching for her necklace. "Certainly not that tiny little baby by the name of Derek Maxwell!" She smiled. "I swear he gets bigger every time I see him! And, he looks more like his parents every day." Relena said to Hilde and Duo as she looked at the grin plastered on the face of the child sitting in her lap.

"Yep. He's sprouting up like bamboo." Hilde said with a smile.

"And he does seem to act more like Hilde and I lately." Duo said thoughtfully.

"At least he hasn't started eating like his father." Hilde said with a laugh.

"Yeah, then would really be in trouble..." Quatre added with a teasing smile.

"Ouch! That hurts!" Duo said with a mock look of pain on his face. Relena laughed and bounced Derek on her lap. The toddler started giggling as Duo handed him one of his toys, a stuffed elephant.

Derek looked like both of his parents in appearance, and shared their upbeat personality. He had the almost violet colored eyes of his father and hair that was a mix between the colors of both his parent's hair. The resulting dark chocolate brown hair was cut short which made him look adorable. Relena figured he would be an absolute heartbreaker when he got older, just like his father.

"Well if he grows up to be just like his parents he will a wonderful young man." Relena said, winking at Derek who had given up trying to get her necklace and was completely absorbed in trying to fold up his stuffed elephant's trunk.

"Minus the appetite!" Hilde said and everyone laughed lightly.

Noin handed Heero back his daughter. Heero held the infant low so Derek could get a better view from where he sat on his knees, on the edge of Relena's bed.

"So what's her name?" Milliardo asked, grasping his wife's hand in his. Relena and Heero shared a glance then smiled at each other.

"Rain." Heero said softly.

"That's a beautiful name, but what's it mean?" Hilde asked as Derek slid off of Relena's bed and toddled over to her.

"It means love." Relena said through half-closed eyelids as Heero kissed Rain lightly on the forehead.

Just then, the nurse walked in and ushered the crowd out the door, stating firmly that it was time for Relena and the baby to sleep.

Everyone said a quick "goodbye" before leaving while the nurse gently placed the baby in the incubator next to Relena's bed. Relena blew a kiss to her daughter and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep.

Three years later, Relena, Hilde, and Duo were visiting in a playground near the park where Heero had first admitted his love for Relena.

Derek and Rain were sitting on a miniature merry-go-round, clinging to each other to keep from falling while Duo spun them. Hilde and Relena were seated on a picnic table, staring at the road beyond. They were all waiting for Heero to arrive so they could go out to lunch. Hilde gasped as a car went whizzing by on the four-lane road.

"Geez I wish that road wasn't so close to the playground, some kids could get really hurt." Hilde said with a scowl. Relena nodded in agreement. Her frown melted as she heard the sounds of Derek and Rain laughing when Duo spun the merry-go-round faster and tripped, landing face first in the sand. Hilde noticed it too and nudged Relena in the side. They both laughed. Duo picked himself up and jumped at Rain and Derek in an attempt to scare them.

"Reorrrrrahhh!" Duo yelled. Rain shrieked and clung to Derek even tighter before going into a fit of giggles.

"Grow up Dad!" Derek said with a grin, shaking his head. Relena and Hilde both cracked up.

"Hilde don't those two look adorable? They are inseparable." Relena said with a smile while watching Derek and Rain.

"Those two are the closest buds that young I have ever seen." Hilde replied. Relena nodded. Derek was six and Rain was three, but they were still best friends despite the three years age gap between them.

Derek still looked the same as he had when Rain was born, yet was and bigger. Rain had turned into a beautiful little girl. She had the same perussian blue eyes as her father and the same golden-brown hair as her mother.

"Well they make a cute couple." Relena said in a light voice. Hilde laughed.

Relena spotted Heero across the road. She waved and called out to him. He waved back and started across the street. Duo, having heard Relena, stopped the merry-go-round and helped Rain and Derek off. He held one of their hands in each of his and walked over to Relena and Hilde, who had moved to stand at the edge of the road. Relena's heart stopped beating when she saw a large tanker-truck heading right towards Heero. She called out to him but he could not hear her.

He mouthed "What?" as she continued to yell, "Get outta the way! Get outta the way!" Heero turned to see the tanker truck and stood frozen for a second like a dear caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. The tanker-truck's horn blared. Relena dashed across the road and shoved Heero out of harms way, then tripped. The driver of the tanker-truck slammed on the brakes with a screech. Heero turned back to try and help Relena, but it was too late...all he could hear was blood curdling screams, then silence...

To be continued... 


	2. Ch 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or it's characters.

Always There For You Chapter 2:

Rain was sitting in her aunt Noin's lap. Milliardo was sitting beside her. It was two days after the accident with Relena. Rain had not spoken at all in those past two days. They asked her what had happened. Hilde and Duo had tried to tell them the day before, but, they hadn't been able to stop crying long enough. Rain spoke softly without looking up.

"I saw my daddy run across the big road and then uncle Duo stopped the merry-go-round. He helped me and Derek off, then took us over to where Mommy and Auntie Hilde were standing. Mommy didn't look happy about something and started yelling to Daddy to watch out. He looked like he didn't know what she was saying and kept walking. I saw a giant truck coming towards Daddy and gasped. I held Uncle Duo's hand tighter and watched Daddy stop and stare at the big truck. I heard a loud horn from the big truck and the screech as it tried to stop. Mommy ran out into the road and shoved Daddy out of the way. Then she tripped. I watched Daddy try to get her out of the way. I heard Mommy screaming, then she was quiet...

'RELENA!' I heard my daddy scream. The big truck stopped a little ways down the road. The driver jumped out and came running back to where Daddy was holding Mommy and yelling her name. Auntie Hilde ran out to Mommy and Daddy and the driver of the big truck.

'Mommy?' I whispered softly. I couldn't see Mommy, just Daddy and Aunt Hilde's backs. Uncle Duo turned to me and Derek.

'You two stay here, no matter what. Understand?' He said. Derek and I nodded and Uncle Duo ran out to Daddy and the others. I bit the edge of my lower lip and started shaking. Derek grabbed my hand and held it tight. I looked at him and he gave me a look to try to make me feel better.

I heard sirens in and then an ambulance and a bunch of police cars showed up. I heard them ask Daddy what happened, but he couldn't talk. They kept saying things like, "Oh dear god, no, not the Vice-Foreign Minister..." and things like that. I they put Mommy on a bed on wheels and put some kind of thing over her mouth that looked like a big balloon. They told Daddy to step back and Auntie and Uncle Maxwell held him back.

All of them were crying...I've never seen Daddy cry before. I was so scared. I just stood there for what seemed like forever...and then... all of the people trying to help Mommy stopped. One of them looked at Daddy with tears in his eyes.

'I'm sorry but there is nothing more we can do...we couldn't bring her back...' He said. I got even more scared.

'Derek what do they mean?' I asked him. I looked up at him. He looked almost as scared as me. I turned away when I heard Daddy talking again.

'No, No, No. No! She can't be gone! There's got to be something you can do damn it!' I heard Daddy say. The people shook their heads.

The same man who had talked before looked at another man and said, 'Contact the hospital, tell them that we couldn't do anything...the Vice-Foreign Minister is gone...' I heard this and felt...like I was...I couldn't move at all if I tried. Did they mean Mommy was gone? That Mommy wasn't ever going to wake up?

Daddy started crying a lot. They put Mommy's bed on wheels into the ambulance and closed the doors. Mommy wasn't moving. Auntie and Uncle Maxwell were holding Daddy and they all cried.

'Mommy? Mommy Wake up!' I yelled. I had started crying. My eyes were hurting from tears. I started to run to Mommy and Daddy, but Derek wouldn't let me.

'No, no, no! Let me go! I have to get to Mommy!' I yelled. I tried to get away, but Derek is stronger than me. The ambulance started to leave. '

No! Mommy, come back! Mommy, come back! Derek let me go! I have to get to Mommy!' I looked at Derek. He was crying too. He sat on the ground and pulled me onto his lap and hugged me tight.

'Rain, you have to stay here!' Derek said. He held me tight to keep me with there.

'But I'm scared! I have to get to my Mommy!' I told him. Derek shook his head and held me tighter.

'Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you...I promise...it'll be ok.' He said. He was trying to make me feel better.

I looked over his shoulder at the ambulance going around the corner and my Daddy and Derek's Mommy and Daddy fell on their knees while they cried more.

I buried my face in Derek's shoulder and looked up again.

'MOMMY!' I screamed. I can still hear myself yelling to her...in my head...I keep hearing it...again and again..." Rain said.

Noin and Milliardo hugged her tight. They tried not to cry. They did not want to frighten her. She was crying again.

"Where'd Mommy go? I want my Mommy back!" Rain sobbed. Milliardo and Noin could not think of anything to say to calm Rain down. They could only hold her while she cried herself to sleep.

A.C. 207, Fall - At a school in L.A. near the Preventors headquarters building, Rain, who was six years old and in first grade at the time, was standing next to the monkey bars on the playground of her school. She looked around for a moment, then looked down. She smoothed a wrinkle out of her shirt and continued watching the other children playing near by.

It was Rain's first year at that school, and her third week there. Rain was feeling sad because she missed Derek. Duo and Hilde had returned to L2 after Relena's death and had only talked to Heero and the others once in the past two years.

Rain was doing very well considering she had taken her mother's death the hardest of all. After Relena's death, Heero had become determined to be the best parent he could, he refused to let his sadness take over him so horribly that someone else would have to raise Rain. Heero spent even more time with Rain, and had been a completely loving father for the past three years.

Milliardo and Noin had also been a big help over the past couple of years, baby-sitting Rain whenever Heero had to go somewhere out of town for a long time. Now three years later, everything seemed almost normal, minus the fact that Rain hadn't seen Derek in three years. Having not seen her closest friend in three years had been very hard on Rain and Heero hoped that her going to this new school would help her make some new friends. Rain still hadn't really made any friends at her new school and often times kept to herself at recess, which was what she was doing right then.

Rain looked up to see a group of three girls her age standing near by playing hopscotch and talking about the new boy at their school, who was in third grade. Rain recognized all three of the girls and recalled their names. The one with short blonde hair was named Katrina, the one with long light brown hair was Alisa, and the one with long platinum blonde hair was Chelsea.

"So what's his name?" The girl who was now hopping, Katrina, asked her friends.

"I don't know, my brother Jack said he's in his class and everyone calls him Max." Chelsea replied.

"I heard he's really nice and really funny." Alisa put in.

"So is he here today?" Katrina asked, looking around the playground, searching for all of the third graders.

"No, he's only been here one day and he's already missed a day of school!" Alisa replied.

"Really?" Katrina asked, turning back to her friends.

"Yeah, yesterday was his first day and everyone already likes him!" Chelsea added.

Rain listened to this and wondered who this "Max" boy was. Soon after she thought that, the teachers called all of the first-third graders inside.

The next day during recess, Rain was off by herself again, but this time even farther away from the door than she had been the day before. Rain was completely out of the teachers' sights, standing near a wall. She was absorbed in thought. Rain heard someone approaching and looked up. She looked up from the ground to see that she had been surrounded by a group of four second graders. Rain recognized them as a group of bullies who liked to pick on first graders. Rain looked at each one of them and recalled their names. The one with dark brown, almost black hair was Scott, the leader. The one with blonde hair was named Brandon. The boy with the light brown hair with the smug smile was Joe, and the brunette was named Mike.

Rain began to feel nervous as they walked closer to her. Rain's father had been teaching her self-defense, but she still wasn't prepared enough yet. Rain got more and more worried as they got closer and closer, but didn't let it show. It wasn't until they had her pinned against a wall and were yelling cruel things at her that she began to let on about her fear. Rain was terrified. She closed her eyes and prayed they would go away soon.

"Hey!" Someone yelled from behind the group of bullies. Rain opened her eyes to see the group turning to see who'd spoken. Rain peered around them to see two third graders standing there, looking angry. The one on the left had light brown hair and blue eyes and the one on the right had chocolate brown hair that looked like a mix between bluish-black and chestnut brown. He had startling almost violet eyes. Rain recognized the one on the left as Jack Wales, the brother of the girl in her class who'd been playing hopscotch the previous day. The other boy Rain didn't know but thought he looked familiar. Jack spoke again.

"Scott, what are you and your little buddies doing? You wouldn't be picking on first graders again would you? Because I thought you said you were going to stop that little habit of yours." Jack said with a hard look at Scott.

Scott and his buddies got really nervous and loosened their grip on Rain. Rain remembered that Jack had a reputation for sticking up for first graders since his sister was in first grade. The other boy that Rain didn't recognize obviously had the same reputation, because Scott and his buddies got even more nervous when they received a hard stare from him.

"We weren't doing anything Jack, we were just playing a little game here." Scott said nervously.

"Really? Is that so?" Jack asked looking at Rain. Rain shook her head violently. Jack turned back to Scott and his buddies and gave them a look as if to say 'Don't ever lie to me again!'

"Scott why don't you and your buddies just leave her alone." The boy Rain didn't know said, giving them a fiery look. Scott didn't say anything, he just looked afraid.

"Well we umm, uhh would love to stay and chat, but we gotta go!" Scott yelled and he and his buddies fled.

"Yeah that's what I thought." Jack said. Jack turned to his friend and they both laughed. Rain sighed with relief now that Scott and his buddies were gone. The boy Rain didn't know stopped laughing and grinned at her.

"Don't worry they won't bother you again, and if they try to, they won't get away with it." The boy said. Rain didn't say anything; she just stood there, still shaken up. The boy turned and left.

"C'mon Jack." He said to his friend who followed him away. He turned back and waved to Rain.

"See ya around." He said with a grin. Rain had finally snapped back to reality and opened her mouth to say thanks, but Jack and his friend were gone before she could say anything.

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes: Hey what did you think of that chapter? 

Oh, if any of you would like to read an added character gundam fanfic I suggest you read my other fic called "A New Ally". Any additional questions or comments e-mail me at Please don't forget to review! Thanks!  
-AlyRain 


	3. Ch 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or it's characters.

Author's Notes: Yeah! The next chapter is up! Sorry it took soooo long! My computer was broken for what seemed like fooorreevveerr! Ne-wayz, enjoy the chapter! Don't forget to review!

Always There For You Chapter 3:

Year A.C. 213 at a junior high near the Preventor's headquarters building, Rain was now a pre-teen at the age of 12 and in seventh grade. She was standing next to a wall, away from all of the school windows and doors. Rain was leaning slightly on the wall, patting her hands on it at her sides, and listening to the tap-tap-tap rythym. She was looking down at the ground with a blank expression; she was completely absorbed in her own thoughts. Rain was so much in her own little world; she didn't hear the approaching footsteps.

"What do you think you're doing?" A harsh voice asked.

"Hmm?" Rain murmured, looking up from the ground and stirring out of her thoughts.

"I said what do you think you're doing here, this is our spot." The person repeated. Rain curled her lip slightly in disgust at who she saw in front of her. She saw four eighth graders: Scott, Mike, Joe, and Brandon-the same group of guys who'd ganged up on her in first grade. Rain found it somewhat amusing that Scott still seemed to be the leader of their little "groupie". Rain smirked slightly, then glared at Scott who had been the one to speak.

"Oh I'm sorry, I would move and all, but you see, I was here first." Rain said, continuing to glare at all of them. Scott, the leader of the group gave her a look as if to say 'How dare you?' Scott turned to look at his buddies.

"Guys can you believe this? This little seventh grader has the nerve to say that? To ME?" Scott said with a haughty laugh. Scott's buddies laughed.

"So Scott, what'cha think we should do?" Mike asked with a wicked grin.

"Teach this little brat a lesson..." Scott answered. His group all shared a laugh and turned back to Rain. She couldn't help but laugh at them all.

"What's so funny?" Brandon, the one with blonde hair, asked harshly.

"You are. Oh please, I'm supposed to be afraid...of you? Gimme a break!" Rain replied and laughed again. The group tensed and glared at Rain who was still laughing lightly.

"Hey Brandon, are you gonna let her get away with that?" Joe asked his buddy with a raised eyebrow.

"No way." Brandon replied.

"Well little princess, now we'll really have to teach you a lesson..." Scott said coldly. He looked at his buddies and then back at Rain. She rolled her eyes.

"Oh yeah, prove it." Rain challenged. That was the last straw for the group of bullies. They advanced toward Rain, ready to cause her pain in any way possible. Rain had sensed this, but hadn't even flinched. She was no longer leaning against the wall and had her legs spread apart slightly, with equal weight on both feet. Rain was now standing in fighting stance, awaiting the bullies' move.

Heero had taught Rain self-defense at an early age so that if she ever needed it and he wasn't there to help her, she'd be OK. Because of this, Rain had become very sure of her self and had become somewhat cocky in her pre-teen years.

Scott got to Rain first and grabbed her arm. He pulled his other arm back ready to punch her in the face. Rain grabbed his raised fist with her free hand and quickly twisted free of his grip on her. She twisted his arm around, behind his back causing him to fall to his knees in pain. Rain let go of him and straightened up, getting into stance again for her next attacker.

For only a 12-year-old, she was extremely graceful in movement. Scott stayed on his knees and held his now sprained wrist close to himself and rubbed it trying to ease the pain.

"Get her you idiots!" Scott said to his buddies who were staring down at him in wonderment. They snapped out of it and rushed at Rain. Rain hadn't been counting on them all attacking her at once and was thrown off guard. They quickly had her pinned against the wall with both her arms twisted painfully behind her back. Rain gritted her teeth in pain. Scott stood up and walked towards her with a look that could kill. Rain now wished she had stayed closer to the doors of the school, within the security guards' sight, or that she hadn't been so cocky.

Even with her spirit broken, Rain continued to glare at Scott and his group. Scott nodded toward Joe who grabbed Rain's right arm from behind her back and gripped it tightly.

"Now I want you to feel the same pain you caused my buddy." Joe said holding onto Rain's arm in a way that he could twist it enough to sprain or even break it. Rain clenched her teeth tightly in expectancy of the oncoming pain.

Just as Joe was about to twist Rain's arm beyond the snapping point he heard someone shout from behind him.

"Hey!" The person yelled again. The group of bullies turned around, without loosening their grip on Rain. They saw two ninth graders standing behind them. Rain peered around Scott and his buddies to see the two as well. Rain recognized the one on the right with light brown hair as Jack Wales, the older brother of the girl in her class named Chelsea. The other boy had hair that was a mix between bluish-black and chestnut brown, making it a chocolate brown, and almost violet eyes. Rain had a serious sense of Déjà vu. They had come to her rescue when she'd been in first grade and Scott and his buddies had attacked her. Rain realized that she still didn't know the name of the second guy and he looked even more familiar than ever.

"What are you guys doing?" The boy whose name Rain still didn't know asked. They all shared a look.

"We weren't doing anything, just playing a little game with Stephania here." Scott answered.

"No you weren't..." The guy Rain didn't know said. With a look of disbelief, like he couldn't believe some one would lie about that when the proof was right there.

"Why don't you leave this poor girl alone." The boy Rain didn't know continued. He gave them a harsh look. Scott, who still wasn't gonna give up, looked at the guy defiantly.

"Why should we?" Joe asked, still clutching Rain's arm. The guy Rain didn't know put a hand on Joe's shoulder and dug his fingers into it. Joe winced.

"Because I asked you to." The boy Rain didn't know replied. Scott and his buddies got kinda nervous and looked at each other. They then looked at Jack and the other boy nervously. Jack and the other guy both had hard expressions on their faces.

"Yeah Scott, beat it." Jack added pointing his thumb behind himself, gesturing for Scott's group to leave.

"Hey guys let's go, We've done enough damage here..." Scott lied, trying to sound tough. The group all nodded and quickly let go of Rain. They high-tailed it outta there, glancing at Jack on their way. He was still glaring at them. Jack started cracking up.

"Hooo! Look at 'em run! We sure scared them, eh Ma-" Jack stopped when he realized his friend wasn't listening. Jack's friend was standing next to Rain with a concerned look on his face. He was oblivious to everything except the girl in front of him.

"Are you ok?" He asked. Rain didn't answer, just rubbed her sore wrists where they had been twisted behind her back. She continued to stare at the ground. Having not gotten an answer from her, the boy Rain didn't know decided to say something else.

"So, Stephania...is that your real name or a nick name?" He asked. Rain paused for a moment before answering.

"It's my middle name, they won't let me use my real name, they said it's not a real name..." Rain replied without looking up from the ground.

"Oh, ok. So whatcha want me to call you?" He asked. Rain remained silent for a moment.

"You can just call me Stephania, I don't care." Rain replied. The boy nodded.

"Ok, that's a cool name. I'm Max by the way, or atleast that's what everyone calls me." The boy said with a grin. Rain recognized the name.

'So this is Max...I can see why everyone likes him so much, he's really friendly.' Rain thought to herself. Rain looked up from the ground and turned her gaze up to him. His smile widened when he saw her look up. Rain bowed her head slightly to be polite.

"Nice to meet you." She said politely. Max nodded.

"Oh yeah, and this is my buddy Jack." Max said, remembering his friend. He turned around and gestured towards his friend.

"Hi." Jack said. Rain nodded her head. Rain felt her stomach flutter slightly. She'd always thought Jack was kinda cute.

"I know you, you're Chelsea's brother." Rain said. Jack looked surprised.

"Oh, are you one of Chelsea's friends?" Jack asked. Max turned to look at Jack, then back to Rain.

"No... but she's in my class." Rain answered.

"Oh, I see..." Jack replied, looking down at the ground uncomfortably. Max sensed the obvious discomfort and thought of a way to avoid it.

"Well lunch period's almost over and it's almost time for 5th period, so we'd better get going..." Max said while looking at his watch. Rain nodded in agreement.

"Well maybe we'll see ya around sometime." Jack said with a smile at Rain. Rain's stomach fluttered again. She smiled back.

"Yeah." She replied. Jack turned to leave.

"C'mon Max." He said as his buddy snapped out of a daze. Rain smiled as she realized he'd been staring at her the whole time. Max looked at the ground and grinned, blushing slightly.

"Yeah I'm coming!" He called to Jack. He turned and started after Jack. "Bye Stephania. See ya around."

"See you." Rain replied with a slight smile. She shook her head as she suddenly remembered something.

"Hey wait!" She called after the two. Jack and Max stopped and waited as Rain ran to catch up to them.

"I uh, wanted to thank you..." Rain said uncomfortably. She was somewhat embarrassed for being saved two times by these same two guys.

"Sure any time." Max said with a grin.

"Yeah." Jack said with a warm smile. They both nodded their heads and turned to leave again. Rain nodded too, then turned and ran the other way as the bell rang.

Two days after Rain's incident with Scott and his buddies, Rain was sitting by herself at a lunch table, eating a bagel. She could hear three girls from her class talking at the next table.

"So then what did he say?" The girl platinum blonde hair named Chelsea asked.

"He said 'Whoa I think I need some sunglasses there's something really bright over there..." Katrina answered her friend. Alisa and Chelsea, the other girl who was there, cracked up.

Rain knew what they were talking about; they were talking about how the chorus teacher had made fun of a girl in the class who had recently bleached her hair. Rain smiled to herself, reliving the moment.

"So how did she get him back?" Chelsea asked.

"Well, she made fun of him when he dyed his hair and it looked a little too red." Alisa, the other girl answered. Chelsea and her friends all laughed. Katrina was suddenly thinking very hard.

"Hey what happened last month that was so hilarious? I can't remember, I just remember something really funny happened during class. Or we saw something..." Katrina said furrowing her brow. Rain remembered exactly what it was.

"He had a hickey..." Rain said before she knew what she was doing. She felt embarrassed for butting in on their conversation Chelsea, Alisa, and Katrina all turned towards where Rain was sitting and cracked up.

"Oh duh! How could I have forgotten that! Wasn't it gross?" Katrina asked Rain. Rain nodded her head and wrinkled up her nose.

"Ugh yes! He's a teacher! Like he needs to walk around with a hickey on his neck!" Rain answered. Katrina and her friends all nodded and laughed.

"Hey you're Stephania. Right?" Chelsea asked Rain.

"Yeah." Rain replied.

"Hey, why don't you come sit with us?" Katrina said patting the empty seat next to herself. Rain smiled. She was happy to have some people to talk to. Rain picked up her bagel and Snapple and sat down at their table.

"So, Stephania, We don't know much about you besides your name...So why don't you tell us about yourself?" Katrina said smiling warmly at Rain.

"Ok..." Rain began.

Rain, Chelsea, Katrina, and Alisa talked all through the lunch period and found out they had a lot in common. The ringing of the bell found them all cracking up about the strangeness of their math teacher. Rain was very happy, she felt like she was going to be good friends with these people, which was great considering her lack of friends.

"Oh, there's the bell, time for 5th period." Chelsea said, standing up.

"So Stephania, will you sit with us during lunch tomorrow?" Katrina asked. Rain nodded with a smile.

"Sure." Rain replied.

"Ok great! See you sixth period ok?" Alisa said.

"Yeah, see you guys sixth." Rain replied. They had all planned to sit together during sixth period and discuss their crazy math teacher some more. The four girls parted their separate ways.

Three weeks later, Rain was walking home with Chelsea so that they could do their homework together. Once they got inside Chelsea's house they quickly went to the living room and set their book bags down.

On their way to the living room they had passed the kitchen where Chelsea's brother Jack and his friend Max were munching on some nachos. Chelsea had grabbed the extra plate of nachos that her brother had made for her and Rain and said hello. When Max saw that Rain was there he couldn't help but gawk at her. There was something about her that he just couldn't quite put his finger on. Chelsea noticed that both of them were gaping at Rain and almost laughed. She quickly exited the kitchen, dragging Rain after her.

"Hey guys." Rain said with a slight wave as she got dragged into the living room.

"Dude! You didn't tell me Stephania was gonna be here!" Max exclaimed. Jack grabbed another bite of nachos.

"Sorry dude. I guess I forgot." Jack said with a shrug. "Why's it matter anyway?" Jack asked suspiciously.

"Oh um, no reason..." Max replied taking some nachos off the plate.

"Uh huh." Jack said, rolling his eyes.

Meanwhile back in the living room, Rain and Chelsea were sitting on the floor of the living room beside the coffee table. The were starting on their science home work when Chelsea brought something up out of the blue.

"I think they both like you." Chelsea said without looking up from her paper.

"Who?" Rain asked, looking up from her text book.

"Hello! Jack and Max of course!" Chelsea said, now looking up.

"Oh..." Rain said, looking back down at her textbook.

"So do you like either of them?" Chelsea asked. Rain furrowed her brow.

"I dunno..."

"Aww come on! I see that look you and my brother get whenever you two look at each other..."

"What look?"

"I don't know you both stare at each other then look embarrassed as 'you now what'."

"Oh...well..." Rain couldn't think of anything to say.

"So what would you say if he asked you out?" Chelsea asked, totally forgetting her homework.

"I don't know...there's just something that would get in the way of it all..."

"Like what?" Chelsea asked.

"Well I don't know it's just, well...I kinda get this odd feeling whenever I'm around Max..."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure really, but I think I like him too..." Rain said sadly. "Ugh! I can't believe I like two people at once! And they both like me!" Rain said with a groan as she fell back against the bottom of the couch. Chelsea smiled sympathetically.

"Ouch that's really gotta suck..."

"What do you think I should do?"

"I don't know...It's up to you to follow your heart I guess..." Chelsea said with fake mysticism that made Rain want to laugh. Rain sighed.

"Great." Rain muttered.

-End of Chapter 3-

Find out what happens To Rain, Max, and Jack in the next chapter!  
Don't forget to review!  
-AlyRain 


	4. Ch 4

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters are not property of me: they are the property of their respectful owners. Any characters not owned by the creators of GW, are owned by me.

Author's Notes: These next couple chapters might be skipping around a lot, but it'll make more sense as the story goes on.

Always There For You Chapter 4:

Year A.C. 213, Two days before the summer break, Rain was over at Chelsea's house for the afternoon while they plotted what to do that weekend.

Rain had been close friends with Chelsea, Alisa, and Katrina for well over six months now and was becoming good friends with Chelsea's brother Jack and his friend Max as well.

Rain, Chelsea, Katrina, and Max were all in the Wales' living room, watching a movie. Jack was in the kitchen gathering drinks for everyone. Just then, the doorbell rang.

"Oh man! Just at the best part!" Chelsea groaned. "Hey Jack will you see who's at the door?" Chelsea called from where she was sitting on the couch in between Rain and Katrina.

"Uh I'm kinda busy right now." Jack called back from the kitchen where he was balancing a bunch of cups in his hands. Chelsea muttered under her breath. Max spoke up.

"Uh I'll get it." Max said. "I don't mind."

"Thanks Max." Chelsea said. Max nodded and stood up from his seat next to Rain. Max went to the door and opened it. He did a double take when he recognized the person standing on the porch.

"Hi I'm Mr. Yuy. I'm here to pick up my daughter, Rain." Heero said glancing at Max who was standing in the doorway. Max was awestruck. He couldn't believe that Stephania was Rain. He figured that he should have know but didn't really stress that thought much.

'I can't believe it! This is Heero Yuy! My dad's best friend! And Stephania-Or Rain is his daughter! That's why I thought she looked so utterly familiar! To think this whole time my childhood best friend has been right there under my nose!' Max thought.

"Uh, yeah. Um, come in." Max said, remembering Rain was still in the living room.

Heero stared at the boy for a minute before entering. There was no mistaking it, the resemblance of him to his parents was almost uncanny, it was Duo and Hilde's son, Derek. Heero couldn't believe he was here. That meant that Hilde and Duo were back on Earth. Heero wondered why Rain hadn't mentioned seeing Derek; after all he was her childhood best friend... Heero suddenly realized that either Duo and Hilde didn't want Heero to know they were on Earth or else Rain must not have know who this person really was.

Heero stepped inside the house and paused there, just inside the door. At that moment, Jack appeared and walked up to Derek and Heero.

"Hey thanks for getting the door Max. Oh hey Mr. Yuy. Stephania's in the living room. I'll go get her." Jack said with a friendly smile.

"Thank you." Heero said monotonously. Jack nodded and disappeared down the hall. 'So Derek's calling himself Max, I guess Rain must not know who he is after all.' Heero thought as he glanced at "Max". Heero turned to Derek and spoke.

"So are you one of Jack's friends?" Heero asked.

"Yeah, I'm Max. Max Maxwell." Derek replied.

"Hn, is your real name Max? I don't mean to seem rude, but it seems odd that you would be named Max when your last name is Maxwell." Heero said politely. Derek realized that Heero knew who he was also.

"No, it's not my real name. It's a nickname from my last name that everyone decided to use for me." Derek answered.

"Oh I see, well it's nice to meet you...Max." Heero said with a nod towards Derek.

Rain appeared suddenly with Chelsea beside her.

"Hey Daddy. So you've met Max huh?" Rain asked.

"Yes I have." Heero answered plainly. Rain turned towards Chelsea.

"I'll see you tomorrow ok?" Rain said to Chelsea.

"Yeah see you." Chelsea responded.

"Bye Chels, Bye Max." Rain said, turning towards the door. They both said goodbye as Rain and Heero walked out the door.

That night, Derek was in his room lying on his back looking out the skylight. All of the lights were off in the room so Derek could see the stars through the skylight better. Derek was deep in thought.

'I still can't believe it. This whole time I've been around Rain and I didn't even known it was her! She still doesn't know it's me, that's obvious. I wonder if I should tell her or not...' Derek sighed sadly. ' No I can't tell her, It would be too hard on her, too hard to know I would just have to leave her...again...' Derek was deeply saddened. He and his parents were moving back to L2 the day after summer break started. They had gone back every summer, but now they were going back to stay. Derek sighed again.

"Why's life always gotta be so difficult...?" Derek muttered. With that depressing thought in mind, Derek rolled onto his side and went to sleep.

-End Of Chapter 4-

Don't forget to review!  
-AlyRain 


	5. Ch 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or it's characters.

Always There For You Chapter 5:

Year A.C. 213, The last school day before summer:

Every student's eyes were on the clock, there were only 3 minutes left until the final bell of the day rang, meaning the start of summer vacation.

When the bell finally rang all the students launched from their seats and started yelling, cheering, and acting crazy. The doors to the school slammed open and students streamed out.

Max, Rain, Chelsea, Katrina, Jack, and Alisa were right in the middle of the people streaming out the doors. They were all chattering happily. Rain and Max started singing "School's Out" by Alice Cooper and the rest of the group joined in after laughing with the two. The song was an ancient classic, but few people knew who had written it.

When their song had ended, the group found themselves standing in the school quad. They all sat down on a bench by the street and waited for their rides to arrive. Max, Jack Chelsea, Katrina, and Alisa all squeezed onto a bench. Rain was standing in front of them all glaring at them. They all laughed at Rain who made a pouting face. The group grinned innocently. Rain grinned evilly and sat on Max and Jack's laps. Max and Jack both grinned.

"Ohh, I like this." Max said with a grin. Everyone else laughed.

"Hmm, me too." Jack said, raising his eyebrows up and down. Rain shook her head in mock dismay and playfully punched them both in the shoulder. Chelsea, Alisa, and Katrina just laughed at the whole situation. Once they had stopped laughing, the group started talking.

"Man it sucks that we won't see you guys next year." Rain said to Jack and Max. Max and Jack were both in Ninth grade so they would be attending high school the following school year.

"Yeah." Katrina, Chels, and Alisa agreed. Max and Jack both shared a look and began sniffling and pretending to cry.

"Oh Jack they love us that much." Max said, putting a hand to his chest.

"Oh, gee do you guys really mean it?" Jack asked, pretending to wipe away a tear. The girls all shared a look. They were trying not to laugh. They all finally cracked up and hugged each other.

Once they had control of their laughter again, the group was quiet for a moment. Rain noticed that they were the only people left at the school, even the teachers were gone.

Alisa noticed her mom's car and she stood up.

"Well my mom's here. I'll see you guys tonight, right?" Alisa asked the group.

"Yeah." Jack answered. The group had planned on eating dinner together at a café to celebrate the beginning of summer vacation. Katrina stood up also and she and Alisa walked to Alisa's mom's car.

"Bye guys." Katrina said with a wave.

"Bye." Alisa echoed. The group all waved goodbye and Alisa and Katrina left.

Rain slid off of Jack and Max's laps and onto the empty space on the bench next to Jack. The remaining four friends talked for a few minutes until Chelsea and Jack's father showed up to take them home. Max started to get up as well. Mr. Wales was supposed to give him a ride home that day. Mr. Wales rolled down his car window and called out to Max.

"Hey Max, your dad called. He said he would pick you up today." Mr. Wales said as Chelsea and Jack got in the car. Max nodded and sat back down.

"Bye Max, Bye Rain see ya tonight!" Chelsea called out the window as the car drove off.

"Bye." Max and Rain both replied, even though the car was already gone. Max took a deep breath. He decided this was the best time to tell Rain that he was moving. She was the only one who didn't already know. The others all thought that she knew also, but she didn't. Max had kept it off; he really didn't want to have to say it for fear that he might lose it. It pained him so much; he'd never come back to Earth after this. His parents were set on staying in L2.

Derek took another deep breath before he spoke.

"Rain, there's something I need to tell you..." Max began. Rain turned to look at him. Rain wondered why Max was using her first name. All of her friends knew her first name but never used it. Rain shrugged it off.

"I didn't want to have to tell you...but there's no time like the present I guess..." Derek said, laughing slightly at the cruelty of those words. A concerned expression crossed Rain's features.

"Max, what's wrong?" Rain asked with a look overflowing with concern. Max looked down at the ground.

"My parents and I are going back to L2..." Max said slowly.

"Well that's not so bad, I mean you go there every summer right? So we'll just hang out right before school starts, like you and Jack used to do every year." Rain said, tilting her head to the side slightly. Max sighed.

"You don't understand...we're moving back to L2, we're not coming back..." Max said softly. Neither of the two said anything for a moment. Rain's face showed mixed emotions. Her features showed a mix between shock and sadness.

"Are-are you serious?" Rain asked, trying to see Max's eyes. Max didn't say anything. He simply nodded.

"Whe-when are you leaving?" Rain asked, now also looking at the ground.

"In two days..."

"I can't believe this...Do the other's know?"

"Yes, you were the only one I didn't tell..." Max said softly. Rain became confused.

"Why, why didn't you tell me...why was I the last one to find out?" Rain asked, hurt crossing her face.

"It hurt too much to tell you...because I knew it would pain you so much..." Max said, looking up so he could look into her eyes.

"I-I...wha-why?" Rain was confused beyond words, she couldn't think of what to say.

"Why do you have to go...?" Rain asked, finally regaining her ability to think.

"I...I Don't want to leave, but my parents...they said we've been here too long and it's time to go back...I've tried everything to change their minds, but it's no use." Max said, turning away from Rain again. Rain snickered slightly.

"You know I've never even met your parents..." Rain said, more to herself than to Max. Max considered this. Of course she hadn't ever met them, if she had she would have figured out who he was, who his parents were...then everything would just be that much worse.

"They aren't that bad, I mean they felt terrible about us having to move, they knew I would have to leave my friends behind...I think you would have liked them a lot if you'd been able to get to know them..." Max said with a sigh.

"Perhaps..." Rain said while thinking. Suddenly Rain's expression brightened. "Hey what if I came out to L2 to stay with you and your parents for a while? It would give me a chance to get to know them, and I would get to see you." Derek considered this. Maybe, just maybe it would work. Max mentally shook his head. No, it couldn't work, Heero would have to talk to Hilde and Duo at some point and that would just make things more complicated.

"Maybe..." Was Max's only reply. Rain sensed something about her idea was bothering him so she let it drop.

"Well you make sure and write to me. And you better call, or else..." Rain said, giving him a playful threatening look. Max couldn't help but smile.

"Of course." Max replied. At that moment, a car horn beeped. Rain and Max both looked up to see Max's parent's car. Max stood up quickly. Rain saw a confused look on his face. Max's dad's head popped out of the passenger seat window.

"Derek, c'mon, we gotta go!" Max/Derek's dad, Duo, called. Max wondered why both of his parents were in the car. Normally just his dad came to pick him up.

"Dad what's going on? Why are you and Mom both here?" Derek asked as he took a few steps towards the car.

Rain was totally awestruck. She was in complete and utter shock. For some reason she could not get her mouth to work, nor could she manage to move. This was Derek, her childhood best friend, and those were his parents in the car. At that moment, everything made sense to her. She understood why she'd never met Max's parents, she would have realized who he was and then Heero would have most likely found out as well. Derek knew who she was, he'd seen her father just a few days ago.

"I'm sorry Derek, but we have to leave today, we're going to the shuttle port right now. You can call all of your friends as soon as we get home, I promise..." Hilde said to her son with a sad look. Derek's heart skipped a beat. His mind reeled.

"Wha-what? We can't leave today. I-I-I haven't even had the chance to say goodbye." Derek said, glancing frantically behind himself at Rain. She looked dazed. Derek suddenly realized why; she knew.

"I'm sorry sweety, but we have to go." Hilde said, feeling deep sympathy for her son. Derek realized if he didn't leave right then and there, then he wouldn't be able to. He couldn't even bear to look back at Rain, couldn't bear to let her see the pained look on his face. Without thinking, Derek quickly jumped into the car.

"Go..." Derek said through clenched teeth. Hilde and Duo shared a look. Both of them understood exactly why he wanted to leave, they knew who the girl who was still standing near the bench was. Hilde nodded and pulled the car away from the curb.

Rain shook her head, trying to clear it. Her head was spinning out of control. She quickly regained her thoughts and looked up just in time to see the car leaving. She forced words to sound from her throat.

"Nu-No! Derek, wait! Derek please! Please don't leave me again..." Rain managed to choke out, but it was too late, the car was gone. Rain fell to her knees in anguish. She buried her face in her hands and began to sob.

Rain thought that Derek would be too far away to hear her, but he had heard. He'd just barely heard her cry out to him, and that made his heart ache that much more.

Rain sat there on the ground in the school courtyard for what seemed like hours. In actuality, it had only been about nine minutes since Derek had disappeared from her sight. Disappeared...forever...

When Heero arrived to pick Rain up, he immediately got out of the car and rushed over to her. What he found was a deshelved Rain sitting on her knees with her face buried in her hands. It crushed his heart to see his daughter in such obvious anguish. Heero could hear Rain's quiet sobs and could see her shuddering from her ragged breaths. Heero kneeled in front of her and tried to calm her.

"Rain...Rain? What's wrong?" Heero asked in a gentle voice. Rain answered but with much difficulty.

"D-Derek-Max...G-gone-went b-back to L2..." Rain choked out. Heero looked down at the ground. His face fell. 'So Rain discovered the truth...' Heero thought. Neither Rain nor Heero said anything for a moment. Rain had stopped sobbing and sniffled.

"W-why didn't you tell me it was him...?" Rain said softly. Heero was taken aback. When he didn't answer Rain spoke again.

"I know you knew...If you hadn't you would have had a different reaction to what I've just said..." Rain looked up at Heero with a tear stained face. The look in her eyes was so utterly hopeless that Heero felt his own heart sink.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She repeated. Heero sighed.

"I wanted him to tell you himself. I really thought he would..." Heero said with an exasperated look. Rain shook her head slowly.

"Why didn't he tell me...?" Rain asked. Her gaze fell back to the ground.

"I don't know Rain. Maybe it had something to do with his parents. Or him leaving." Heero said. "I'm so sorry Rain..." Rain shook her head again.

"No, I'm through with being sorry..." Heero raised an eyebrow.

Rain took a deep breath and slowly stood. She straightened out her slightly rumpled clothes and wiped the remaining traces of tears off of her face. She straightened her shoulders and tried to bury the misery she was feeling. Heero stood as well and watched Rain with concern.

Rain sucked in a breath and spoke her thoughts aloud. She had to hear herself say it... "No. Derek's gone now. And moping about it isn't going to make things any better." Rain said slowly. She shook her head to keep herself from tearing up again. Heero nodded in understanding.

'Now that's the Rain I know-always headstrong... That's right Rain. Keep strong. I know you're tough.' Heero thought.

To be continued...

-End of Chapter 5-

Author's Notes: Ok that was really really really sad! It was so hard to write! Gomen! I'm Sorry! Please review while I go try to keep from sobbing!  
-AlyRain 


	6. Ch 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing...do ya have to rub it in?

Always There For You Chapter 6:

Year A.C. 214, Fall:

Heero was sitting in the office of his house, busily typing a report for The Preventors. He stopped typing when he heard the doorbell ring. He typed another sentence before standing up to answer the door. Heero heard the doorbell ring a few more times while he walked down the hallway. Whoever was at the door was extremely persistent.

Heero pulled open the door with a polite greeting on his face. His expression fell when he saw who was there. Heero stood there and for the first time in years he found himself at a loss for words.

"What are you doing here?" Heero asked when he could finally form the question.

Rain was walking home from the local coffee shop, mocha in hand. She looked around in confusion. Somehow she'd ended up going the wrong way. She glanced around herself, recognizing the street she was on as a territory of the Bloods, a major gang that had been around in LA for centuries. She wanted to hit herself because she was wearing so much blue. She could easily be mistaken for a Cryp, the Bloods biggest rivals.

Rain heard something behind her but didn't show that she'd noticed. She was still cocky as ever, thinking she could defend herself no matter what came at her. But what came at her, she wasn't expecting...

Before she could react, four very gruff looking guys surrounded Rain. They were all wearing red rags. The guy in front of Rain grinned cockily at her.

"Hey little girl. What are you doing here in this part of town?" He said with a smirk. Rain shrugged.

"Just passing through." She said casually. She remained well aware of what all of the four guys were doing and where they were. The guy shared a look with the guy behind Rain.

"I don't think that's gonna work out...because you're dressed in Cryp...and we don't like that around here..." The guy said while stepping towards Rain. Rain got into fighting stance. She smirked. The guy took that as a challenge and the four guys rushed at Rain.

Within the span of about two minutes, Rain had all four guys on the ground. They were all wincing painfully. Rain had her foot on the chest of the guy who'd spoken to her and was glaring at him.

"Don't ever call me little girl." Rain said through clenched teeth. The guy looked behind her and began laughing. Rain glared at him.

"What the hell's so funny?" She asked, putting more weight on the foot on his chest. He didn't answer, just coughed and laughed some more. Rain glanced over her shoulder out of the corner of her eye to see what he might have been looking at. What she saw was about twenty more gang members glaring at her.

"Oh. Shit..." Rain said. She grew angry with the guy beneath her foot who was still laughing. She kicked him in the temple, rendering him unconscious. She looked around at all the gang members surrounding her and wondered how she'd ended up in that predicament.

Rain let out her breath slowly and began plotting. She didn't plan on fighting all these guys, just escaping. She spotted an opening to her left but didn't let the gang members see that she'd noticed. She might have to fight a couple of guys if she didn't move quickly. Rain made sure the gang members were all in the same place and wondered just how long she had to move.

A car horn honked. Rain and the gang members all turned to look. They spotted a black jeep at the opening Rain had spotted.

"Rain!" A voice shouted from the vehicle. Rain thought for a split second. She had no clue who was in the jeep. Rain figured she'd have better odds against whatever passengers there might be in the jeep than the situation she was currently in.

Before any of the gang members could react, Rain sprinted for the jeep. She could hear the gang members hot on her heels as she dove through the open backseat window of the jeep. The car zoomed off, flinging Rain against the seat. She could hear gunshots and remained curled up in the seat.

A few minutes later the jeep stopped in a parking garage. The driver of the jeep spoke up, "It's ok. We're not being followed." Rain sat up slowly and turned to look at the person driving the jeep. She recognized the voice and wondered where she'd heard it before.

From where she was sitting, Rain could only see the back of the driver's head. Even that was enough to figure out who it was. Rain scrambled up into the front seat and threw her arms around her rescuer's neck.

"Derek! I can't believe it's you!" Rain shouted. "You came back! Why...?" Derek smiled at her.

"I came back because of you. Rain, I'm sorry I didn't tell you...I-I didn't want to hurt you. But in the end, it just made things worse." Derek said, hanging his head sadly. He turned away from her. Rain shook her head.

"No, don't be sad. I-I understand why you did what you did." Rain said with a watery smile. Derek turned back to face her. Rain hugged him even tighter.

"I missed you so much!" She said. Derek wrapped his arms around her.

"I missed you too." Derek replied monotonously. Derek sighed. "Rain, there's another reason why I'm here." Rain let go of him and looked up with a questioning eyebrow.

"There's something you need to know. But I'll tell you when I get you home." Derek said. Rain, sensing the importance of his words, nodded in understanding. She slid into the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt. Without another word, Derek pulled the jeep out of the parking garage and headed for Rain's house.

Heero shook his head in disbelief at the people in front of him. They looked the same as they had ten years ago. He couldn't believe it-Duo and Hilde were there, on his doorstep.

"Heero, we need to talk." Duo began. Heero scoffed.

"Oh, now you can talk. But you couldn't talk to me for the past 10 years. Not even when our kids were going to the same damn school..." Heero said coldly. Duo sighed tiredly.

"Heero there's a reason for that and it will all make sense once Hilde and I get the chance to explain a few things." Duo replied. Heero sighed and stepped aside so they could enter the house.

"Better have a damn good reason then..." Heero said.

Once they were seated in the living room, Heero spoke.

"So what do we need to talk about besides your reason for cutting off all contact from everyone for the past ten years?" Heero asked.

"It all has to do with the same thing..." Duo began.

"And that is?" Heero asked. Duo and Hilde looked at each other for a moment.

"Heero, there's something you need to know...about Relena..." Hilde said slowly. Heero raised an eyebrow.

"What do I need to know?"

"Heero. Relena's...alive..."

"You're lying." Heero said when he'd recovered from the initial shock. His mouth said that Hilde and Duo were lying, but his mind believed them. Duo and Hilde both shook their heads sadly.

"Heero, I wish I were." Duo said with a sigh. Before anyone could say anything else, the door opened and Rain called from the doorway.

"We're back." Rain called as she and Derek walked to the living room. Rain stopped in the doorway. She took one look at Heero and knew instantly that something was wrong. She glanced from Heero to Hilde, then to Duo, and finally she looked at Derek beside her. Derek shifted his weight uncomfortably.

"You've already told him?" Derek asked, even though he knew they had.

"Yes, but we haven't given him the details yet." Hilde replied. Derek nodded.

"What's going on? All Derek said was that you were gonna meet us here and there's something you're supposed to tell me...?" Rain said. The three Maxwells all shared a look with Heero. He nodded also. Rain looked confused. Heero sighed.

"Rain, they're here because of you're mother..." Heero began. Rain's expression was suddenly filled with grief.

"What about Mummy?" Rain asked. She looked far away.

"Mummy's alive..." Heero said slowly. Rain's jaw dropped slightly. She fell back against the wall and slid down it until she was sitting on the floor.

"Wha-what...? How is that possible? Th-the doctors, I heard them say..." Rain trailed off, not being able to say the words.

"I'm not sure. That's why Duo and Hilde are here. They're going to explain..." Heero said, looking away to glance and them. Duo took a breath before he began.

"Ok, now everything will make sense when I answer the thing you're probably wondering about the most right now. And that is how Relena is alive..." Duo said. Rain and Heero both nodded. "Well, do you remember the truck driver from the accident?" Heero nodded gravely. "Well then you'll remember how we always assumed he was the one who called the ambulance..." Duo trailed off.

"What are you getting at?" Heero asked.

"The truck driver never called for medical assistance directly. He just radioed for help..." Hilde said. "And you know that anyone could have heard him..." Heero and Rain's eyes both grew wide.

"Oh my god...you mean..." Heero began.

"They weren't really from the hospital?" Rain finished.

"Someone knew that Relena was there. And that someone set up the whole thing..." Duo replied. Rain and Heero looked like everything had dawned on them.

"So the ambulance attendants, their sadness for 'Not being able to save the Vice-Foreign Minister' it was all an act?" Rain asked. Duo nodded.

"It was an elaborate scheme to kidnap your mom." Derek said.

"That mask, that they put on her face to supposedly assist her breathing. It was a tranquilizer." Hilde said.

"How do you know all this?" Heero asked.

"Heero, that's why we went back to L2 and cut off all contact. We were told to leave immediately to investigate the whole thing." Duo said. Heero and Rain still looked confused.

"Did you ever find it strange that it was a closed-casket funeral? No one ever saw the body after the ambulance took off. And no one ever saw the truck driver again." Hilde said.

"Well that raised some suspicion with the Preventors. Relena is such an important figure, so why couldn't someone have set up the whole thing?" Hilde continued. Heero and Rain both nodded in agreement.

"So, we gave them the license plate number of the ambulance and the truck, got it checked out. Turns out all suspicions were right, the truck belonged to a guy named Trey Shelly..." Duo paused after saying the name and watched as Heero tensed. "He's the leader of a new organization trying to disturb the peace between Earth and the colonies...The whole thing was a set up to get rid of the Vice-Foreign Minister...there was a rumor that he was holding up on L2. So off we went. We couldn't find any traces of the guy or the people that work for him. We came back to Earth every year to report back to headquarters and everything, which is how Derek ended up at Rain's school. But, we met with the Preventors in secret, so no one would know we were there..." Duo stopped and Hilde continued.

"We didn't come across a lead until recently. We found the truck driver outside a bar on L2. We brought him in for questioning and he finally gave us the whole story..." Hilde said. Heero clenched his hands into fists.

"He's out to get me...Relena was just a way of getting to me." Heero said in a low voice. Hilde and Duo turned away, showing that they already knew this. Rain looked even more confused.

"Shelly is somewhat of an old acquaintance... He tried to convince me to join him and his group of rebels the year after the Eve Wars. He knew I was a former Gundam Pilot and thought I might be a good ally for him. I told him I wasn't interested in disrupting the new alliance between Earth and the Colonies. He followed me around for weeks trying to get me to join up with him. The last time I saw him he said he would find a way of 'Getting back at me' for not joining up with him... That truck was meant to kill me..." Heero said in dangerously quiet voice. His face fell.

"And instead they got Relena..." Duo and Hilde nodded, showing they knew all of as well this. Rain looked down at the ground. She'd never heard any of this before.

"You say she didn't die, but was she hurt?" Rain asked.

"No, actually she wasn't hurt at all. The truck passed over her. She'd just fainted." Hilde answered. Rain and Heero both let out relieved sighs. No one said anything for a long time after that. Rain and Heero seemed to still be letting things sink in.

"So now what?" Derek finally asked, breaking the silence.

"We have to find Relena..."

It was the following evening. Heero, Rain, Derek, Duo, and Hilde were all in the living room at the Maxwells' house on L2. Heero had made arrangements for them to get to L2 right away, no questions asked. He and Rain had packed a few things and were out the door, ready to leave in about five minutes. They'd gotten to L2 late that evening and had decided to wait until the next morning before they began planning.

Trey Shelly had Relena in his large estate at the South end of the L2 colony. The basic idea of the plan was to get in the house and get Relena out. Rain and Derek would go to the front door and ask about getting recruited for Shelly's group. The recruits were always brought in at Shelly's house and tested but none of the other colony citizens knew that anything odd went on in that house. Rain and Derek would use their fighting skills and techniques to get in and gain Shelly's trust. Then the following day they would find a way to get a message to Heero, Hilde, and Duo that they were in. Heero was a bit reluctant on letting Rain try to get recruited but she managed to convince him. So the only thing left to do was wait until midnight when people would start showing up at Shelly's house.

Six hours later, Derek and Rain were standing in front of the front door to Shelly's estate. They looked each other over to make sure they looked the part of two people trying out for Shelly's "team". Derek was wearing a tight gray t-shirt with black athletic pants and sneakers. His hair had temporary dye and was currently black. Rain was clad in a midnight blue running top, black form-fitting athletic pants, and sneakers. She had her shoulder length hair dyed dark brown and pulled back into a high ponytail. Her outfit showed off how sleek and agile she really was. Derek found his eyes lingering on her for a few seconds longer than he'd planned. He caught himself and turned away quickly, pretending to see if the coast was clear.

Rain had caught this little action, but didn't say anything. She smiled in spite of herself. Derek turned back to Rain when he was sure he wasn't blushing or looking suspicious.

Rain and Derek exchanged nods that they looked all right. Rain rang the doorbell. The door opened a few seconds later and a young man a few years older than Derek stepped out.

Rain had the sudden urge to spit on the guy when she realized who it was. It was the older brother of Scott Aldrico. Scott had been among the group of guys who always used to bully her. His older brother, Nick, had always threatened Rain for how she had nearly broken Scott's arm. She remembered someone telling her he had moved the previous summer, but no one knew why.

Derek recognized him as well, but neither of them showed it. Both of them silently prayed that Nick wouldn't recognize either of them. Nick didn't appear to recognize them. However, he eyed them carefully as part of a precaution that they might be trying to stop Shelly's plans.

"What's the password?" Nick said, still eyeing them. Rain answered.

"It's a perfect night for soldiers to arise and battles to begin." Rain recited the password Duo and Hilde had gained from their interrogation of the truck driver. Nick nodded and stepped aside to let them enter.

"Please come in." Nick said with mock courtesy. He shut the door behind them and locked it.

"Names?" Nick asked.

"Frank Sorvina."

"Teresa Carson." Nick nodded.

"I'm Aldrico, Shelly's assistant." Nick pointed down the hall to the right. "Go down that hallway through the double doors on the left. The others are already in the gym, waiting for Shelly arrive. The testing will begin when Shelly gets there." Derek and Rain gave a nod and started down the hallway.

When Rain and Derek stepped into the gymnasium they felt somewhat taken aback. To the far-left side of the gym were various weight machines and free weights. On the right side of the gym was a padded sparring mat, laid out as protection from the hard wooden floor of the gym. Three benches were set in a semi circle around the sparring mat and a few people were lounging on those. Several people were practice sparring on the right side of the gym.  
Two groups were on the mat, and several others were around the perimeter of the mat. A few people were off to the left using weights or stretching. Rain and Derek walked over towards where the sparring mat was and watched the people sparring. They both wondered exactly what kind of tests this Shelly guy was going to have.

Derek and Rain both looked towards the doors when everyone grew silent and ceased activity. When Rain saw who had entered her stomach dropped. She subconsciously took a step back. Derek glanced at her from the corner of his eye. He wondered what was wrong. He glanced about; making sure no body had noticed her peculiar actions. He as relieved to see that no one had noticed.

"No not him...Not him..." Rain whispered.

To be continued...

-End of Chapter 6-

Who is the person who entered the gym? Why is Rain so upset at this person's presence? Find out in the next chapter! Don't forget to review!  
-AlyRain 


	7. Ch 7

Always There For You Chapter 7:

Rain felt sick. Well that's an understatement; she felt nauseous. At the same time, Rain felt her blood rising in anger. She looked at Shelly with pure hatred burning behind her eyes. She could feel waves of anger surging through her already chemically imbalanced body as she tried to regain her composure. She realized that she had spoken out loud and that she'd moved which could very easily draw unwanted attention to Derek and herself. She glanced about to make sure no one had paid her any heed. She was relieved to see everyone watching Shelly with complete, undivided attention. Rain forced her emotions into check as she listened to Shelly talk.

"...now it is time to see who shall prove worthy of my organization. Those of you who are not worthy...well I wouldn't want to be you...After all, we can't risk anyone finding out about this organization before we are ready to attack. So those of you who do not pass the tests will not be able to get up and leave this building, actually you'll never be able to get up again..." Shelly paused and glanced about the crowd to see whom he'd shaken up with his little speech. Derek and Rain appeared unmoved by his words, but their minds were racing with determination. Shelly announced that the first part of the "testing" would begin over on the sparring mat.

All of the gym's occupants walked slowly over to the sparring mat and waited for further instruction. Shelly stepped into the center ring of the sparring mat and spoke again.

"The first part of the testing will be hand to hand combat. Whomever is the last one standing after three matches will advance to the next level of testing." Shelly said slowly. "Now who will be the first combatants?" Several people, who were daring enough to, stepped forward. Shelly selected two of them and stepped out of the ring. The two fighters faced each other on opposite sides of the sparring mat. Shelly walked over to Aldrico and stood beside him to watch the fight. Shelly spoke up.

"Oh yeah, and one other thing, anything goes... Now let the fight begin."

While everyone was caught up in watching the fight, Derek asked Rain why she'd reacted the way she had earlier.

"Rain why did you flip out when Shelly walked in?" Derek asked. Rain clenched her teeth.

"Derek do you remember how last year Jack and I quit swim team, but we never told you why?" Derek nodded.

"Yeah, you wouldn't tell me. All you said was that the coach was an asshole and I heard a while later that they fired 'em."

"Shelly is the ex-swim coach..." Rain said as she nodded towards Trey Shelly.

"What? No way? When you talked about 'Coach Shelly' I always thought you were referring to the first name of a girl...and the replacement coach was in the yearbook...Hey wait a minute...something tells me that's not the whole story though...What happened that year?" Derek said with a pointed look at Rain. Rain sighed.

"You're right, there's a hell of a lot more to it." Rain took a breath before continuing. "I'll tell you what happened. I went to the swim coach's office to ask him about our next swim meet and he..." Derek's face took on a look of concern.

"What happened?"

"He shoved me on his desk and tried to rape me..." Derek looked shocked.

"Did he hurt you? Did he do anything to you?" Derek hissed. Rain shook her head slowly.

"No, Jack came in right as he was about to rip my bra off... my shirt and shorts were already torn off, and...Oh god, if Jack hadn't walked in when he did..."

"What happened after Jack walked in?"

"Well, he punched Shelly, got him off me, and he and I high tailed our asses out the door. We kept on running until we got to the Wales' house. I told the school principal the next day with Jack as my witness. Shelly was fired that day."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Derek asked. Rain sighed inaudibly.

"I don't know...I guess Jack and I just didn't want to think about it, or we didn't want you or the others to worry."

"Does you father know?"

"No. Nobody does. The school tried to keep it a secret. A lot of parents know what Shelly did, just not who he did it to." 

Derek gently touched his hand to Rain's arm. "Oh Rain, I'm so sorry. First he did that shit, and now he's got your mother...shit. I'm sorry." 

"Don't feel sorry for me. It's in the past, we need to concentrate on now." Rain's face was cold and stoic. Derek took his hand away from her arm and felt hurt. He didn't have to worry about keeping it from Rain because Shelly was speaking again.

Derek noticed for the first time that there were only a few people left who hadn't already fought. Shelly was now pointing at Rain and telling her it was her turn to fight. Rain walked to the sparring mat with out a word and took position. The guy she was fighting against grinned at her. She returned his look with a glare.

"Oooh. I get to fight a feisty one..." The guy said. Rain continued to glare.

"Yeah, too bad you won't live to brag about it."

The guy clenched his teeth and got into fighting stance. 

"I wouldn't be too cocky if I was you, little girl." The guy said. Rain tensed.

"You just made the biggest mistake of your life...never call me 'little girl'..." Rain said in a very quiet, yet strong voice.

"Fighters begin!"

Rain came at her opponent in a double front handspring. When she was standing normally again, she jumped up and kicked with her right foot. Rain kicked her opponent squarely in the temple. The guy had been about to intercept Rain when she'd hit him. His body went limp and he fell face first onto the mat as he lost consciousness. Rain stood up straight and got ready for her next match. She had already beaten two opponents and now had only one match left before she could advance to the next level of testing.

Rain wiped her forehead with the back of her right hand. She took a few deep breaths in an attempt to slow her heavy breathing. The first guy she'd fought against was easy to beat. The second guy, the one she'd just defeated had been tough. Rain was glad she'd finally knocked the guy out because she'd been getting very tired. Rain hoped her next opponent wouldn't be as difficult to defeat. Two guys came and dragged her last opponent off the sparring mat. Rain took her place outside the ring on the mat, and waited for her next opponent.

A woman about Rain's height stepped into place across the ring from Rain. The woman gave Rain the creeps. She looked very agile and very strong. The woman had long blonde hair with an odd almost green tint to it. The woman's hair was pulled up in a high ponytail to keep it out of her way. Rain figured by the girl's dark complexion and by the odd greenish glow of her hair, that her hair was obviously dyed that color. The woman had a very disturbing smile. She reminded Rain of a girl at her school named Bridget Pearson.

Bridget was a very snobbish, airheaded valley girl whom Rain had never liked. Bridget had always acted like a total bitch to Rain when Rain had nothing to deserve such treatment. The woman in front of Rain could have been a mirror of Bridget, had Bridget been ten years older. Rain shrugged these thoughts off and sized the woman up, despite how creepy she was. She could tell that the woman was doing the same, which made Rain feel even more uneasy. 

"Fighters begin." Shelly said. Rain and the woman stepped into the ring. The woman immediately struck a blow at Rain's head with her fist. Rain dodged easily and swung her own fist in return. The woman blocked Rain easily. The two continued to trade weak blows like this for some time. Neither Rain, nor her opponent were really using any effort, they were both simply looking for weaknesses.

Rain's opponent crouched down and tried to sweep Rain's legs out from under her. Rain jumped over her and the woman jumped up and spun around, preparing to kick Rain in the face. Rain did a backward handspring and kicked the woman in the face halfway through her handspring. Rain noticed then, that the woman wasn't as good at blocking kicks as she was at blocking punches. Rain immediately stopped with the horseplay and started using this newly found weakness to her advantage. Rain assaulted the woman with a series of roundhouses.

The woman, realizing that Rain was going all out now, attempted with all of her effort to block Rain's kicks. The woman managed to block almost every one of Rain's kicks. Rain managed to throw off her opponent's balance slightly with one kick that had hit the woman in the chest. The woman recovered quickly, and punched Rain in the jaw. Rain was pissed. The woman hadn't managed to hit Rain with all the force she'd intended, but that was the worst hit Rain had taken all night. Rain raised her left arm like she was going to do a knife chop, and jumped up and scissor kicked the woman instead. The woman had been caught off guard, and Rain successfully kicked the woman's face.

Rain's opponent fell over backwards and hit the mat with a thump. Rain stared down at the now unconscious woman. Rain had kicked with so much force, that she'd broken her opponent's nose. Rain's opponent's face and chest were covered in blood. Rain looked away and looked at Shelly.

Shelly was speaking quietly to Aldrico. He stopped talking when he noticed Rain was now looking at him.

Shelly had been watching Rain's every movement since she'd first stepped onto the sparring mat. Rain was relieved that Shelly still hadn't recognized her. He smiled with a mix of praise and perverted admiration. Rain felt disgusted. That was the same smile Shelly used to give her back when he was still the swim coach. It was not until her near-rape experience that Rain realized that look he gave her wasn't just because she was a good swimmer. She wanted so much to go bash Shelly's face in until he would never be able to smile again. Shelly walked over to Rain and raised her arm in the air.

"Winner." Shelly said as he continued to smile at Rain. Rain remembered her mission and how she had to stay in Shelly's best interests. She forced an almost seductive smile in return. Shelly let go of Rain's hand and they both lowered their arms to their sides. Shelly turned and walked back over to Aldrico without saying anything to Rain. Rain stepped off of the sparring mat. She brushed past Derek who was walking onto the mat. She glanced up at him momentarily.

"Good luck." Rain whispered when she brushed by. Derek gave a half nod in return. Rain turned around to watch Derek's fight. Rain glanced to her left and watched as her last opponent was being carried out the door. She continued watching until the door swung shut. Rain looked away with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

'By my winning, I've just ordered the death sentence for my opponents...' Rain thought. She looked down at the ground with a faraway look. Rain took a deep breath and pushed away her thoughts. She looked back up at the sparring mat and watched as Derek started his first match.

Derek ran forward and jumped up, delivering one final kick to his opponent's face. Derek's opponent's eyes rolled back into her head. She fell backwards and hit the sparring mat with a thump. Derek stayed in fighting position, just in case the woman wasn't unconscious. The woman didn't rise from the floor so Derek relaxed his tense muscles and turned to Shelly. Shelly nodded at him and walked onto the sparring mat.

"Winner." Shelly said as he raised Derek's arm. Shelly lowered Derek's arm and began giving instructions for the next level of testing. There were only six people advancing to the next level. They were the only people left out of the forty who had shown up to try out. Shelly motioned for Rain and the other three people to join him and Derek on the sparring mat. Rain walked onto the sparring mat and stood next to Derek.

The other four people, two guys and two girls, soon joined them on the mat as well. Rain studied the other people. Two of them in particular caught her eye. They looked very familiar for some reason. Rain brushed aside these thoughts and focused her attention on what Shelly was saying.

"-Battle eachother in mobile suit simulators. The results from the computers will determine who will go on to the final level of testing. Any questions?" Shelly asked, looking around at the group that encircled him. No one said anything.

"Good. Now follow me." Shelly said as he walked towards the double doors leading out of the gym. Rain, Derek and the other four people followed close behind. Aldrico followed the group as they walked out the door.

Shelly led the group down the long hallway, passing through many corridors. They finally stopped when Shelly paused in front of a door marked "MS VR Room". Shelly opened the door and led the way inside. Rain looked around with growing interest. The room had several booths with VR Helmets and seats that could rotate in every direction imaginable. Aldrico walked to a metal cabinet and unlocked it. He opened the door and riffled through a row of flightsuits hanging on the rack. He read the different tags and selected seven different ones. Aldrico pulled the flight suits off the hangers and closed and locked the cabinet. He handed the various flight suits to Derek, Rain, and the other four.

Rain looked at the tag in her flight suit seeing that it said the size and had an "F" for female. She was surprised that Aldrico had correctly estimated her clothing size. Rain looked up at Shelly to see what his instructions were.

"The flight suits have VR simulator chips inserted throughout them. They, along with the VR helmets, will give you the feeling of being in an actual mobile suit battle. So hurry up and put them on so that we can begin." Shelly said.

Derek and Rain watched as the other four began slipping off their shoes. Rain and Derek did the same. As the other four began removing pants and shirts, they turned their backs. Rain turned her back to Shelly as she removed the rest of her outer clothing. She quickly pulled on the formfitting flight suit and turned back around to look at Shelly. The others were all clad in the flight suits as well.

Shelly stared at the three girls of the group, taking obvious interest in the tight bust area of the flightsuits. Derek followed Shelly's gaze to Rain and felt his stomach twist with repulsion. He wanted very badly to beat the shit out of Shelly at that moment.

Shelly pried his gaze off the girls' chests and motioned for the group to follow him. Each of the six were put into individual VR booths. Each sat in one of the rotating chairs and were strapped in. Aldrico came around to each of the booths and plugged various wires into the flight suits. He also put placed all of the helmets on and plugged them in as well.

Derek blinked as the screen in his helmet came on. He turned his head back and forth as though looking around inside the cockpit of a mobile suit. He reached forward and punched in the start up sequence on the keypad in front of himself as Shelly instructed. He felt a vibration as the engine of the mobile suit came to life.

In reality, Derek was still just sitting in a seat in the VR booth, tapping at the key pad in front of him. To Aldrico, it looked like Derek was typing on the key pad in front of himself and nothing was happening. Each VR both had a keypad, for that was the only thing they couldn't really simulate. They could simulate the keypad making things work or making sounds, but they couldn't simulate the feeling of actually pressing the keys. 

Aldrico noticed that the other five were doing the same. He walked over to a glass door and opened it. He stepped inside a small room with many computer monitors. The monitors showed heart and breathing rates, brainwave patterns, as well as what each individual person was seeing with the VR gear. Aldrico glanced to his left at Shelly who was looking over the monitors and out of the glass panel, into the VR room. Aldrico noticed he was staring at one person in particular. Rain.

You seem to have a particular interest for that Carson girl." Aldrico said as he followed Shelly's gaze. Shelly didn't look away from Rain.

"Simply delicious isn't she? She reminds me of someone...I'm just not sure who at the moment, but it will come to me." Shelly said. Aldrico didn't answer. Even though Aldrico was a cold-hearted asshole, he found Shelly's whole perverted cradle robbing fetish absolutely disgusting. Aldrico looked away from Rain and looked down at the monitors to wait for the MS battle to start. Shelly reached for a microphone that was linked to all of the VR helmets.

"Begin the fighting...now!" Shelly said and switched off the microphone. He took his eyes away from Rain and looked down at the monitors to watch the simulated fight.

Derek heard a beeping sound and hit a button to fire his beam riffle. He watched his center screen as the beam of light raced towards the black Serpent in front of him. Derek flared the thrusters of his own Serpent in order to dodge the beam that had just been fired at him from the left. He cursed under his breath as the Serpent that had been in front of him dodged his shot. Derek noticed that the Serpent that had fired from the left was now preoccupied with the Serpent that had been in front of him. He took that opportunity to fire point-blank-range at the Serpent that had been on his left. Derek grinned wolfishly as the Mobile Suit exploded in a giant burst of flames and sparks. His grin mirrored the grin his father sometimes got when a battle seemed to be going his way. Derek had only paused for a split-second before he flared his thrusters and charged at a Serpent that had fired from above him. He'd dodged easily and was now set on taking out that Serpent as well.

Rain dodged a shot fired from the beam riffle of the Serpent in front of her. Another Serpent quickly came at her from the right and fired its beam riffle at her. She dodged again and prepared to fire her own beam riffle at it. She was surprised when the Serpent suddenly exploded before her. She caught sight of another Serpent. It had been behind the Serpent she'd just watched explode in a ball of flames. Rain figured that Serpent had destroyed the one that had been in front of her. She watched the Serpent zoom upwards towards a mobile suit that had fired from above. She took aim while the Serpent was distracted. Just as she was about to fire, Rain heard a beep and noticed a beam riffle had locked onto her from behind. She flared her thrusters and zoomed downward to dodge the beam. Rain spun her mobile suit around with lightning fast precision and fired at the Serpent that had been behind her. She smirked the slightest bit as the mobile suit exploded. The half amused smirk she'd held for that split second matched the smirk her father had when he found something battle associated amusing. It was the smirk that was almost prideful. Rain took note that there were only three more Serpents left out of the original five she'd counted at the beginning of the battle simulation. She zoomed off towards the nearest Serpent with out another thought.

Aldrico turned away from the monitors showing the simulated battle and glanced at a clock. The last four combatants of the simulated MS battle had been fighting for the past twenty minutes. Two had already lost the simulated battle. Their Mobile suits had been destroyed so their VR simulators had automatically turned off after they'd been "killed". The boy and girl had already been unhooked from the VR equipment and had been taken outside of the RV room. Aldrico glanced out the viewing panel at the remaining four combatants who were still in their VR booths. All of them had sweat dripping down their fronts, from beneath their VR helmets. They appeared to be breathing hard from the strain of the simulated battle. Looking down at a monitor showing heart rates and breathing rates, Aldrico titled his head the slightest bit. A look of awe worked its way onto his face. He couldn't believe they were still conscious. With their heart rates as high as they were, Aldrico was surprised they hadn't all gone into cardiac arrest. Along with the extremely high heart and breathing rates they had, the four combatants looked exhausted. Aldrico couldn't believe they hadn't passed out already.

Aldrico looked again at the clock and shook his head wistfully. The simulated battle was still raging and the last for combatants had been hard into battle for well over thirty minutes. He glanced at Shelly who was carefully watching the simulated battle.

"Do you think I should shut off the system now? They all look like they're about to pass out." Aldrico said. Shelly shook his head.

"No, wait just a few more minutes. I wouldn't want to stop the battle without finding out who the victor was." Shelly said, not taking his eyes off the screen showing the battle. "Besides, I have a feeling that the battle won't be much longer."

"Yes sir." Aldrico replied.

Aldrico secretly disapproved with letting the battle run on. He knew that the four fighters couldn't hold out much longer. Aldrico turned his gaze back to the simulated battle. He noticed that all of the four Serpents were in face-offs. He watched curiously as the four Mobile Suits fired simultaneously. The four Serpents all exploded at the same time. The simulated battle had finally ended. It had resulted in a four way tie.

Aldrico opened the door of the viewing room and walked into the VR room. He walked to each booth and unhooked the combatants from the systems. Shelly followed Aldrico, helping to unhook the systems as well.

Rain pulled off her helmet and wiped her damp forehead on the sleeve of her VR flight suit. She held her helmet under her arm and walked over to Shelly along with the other three combatants. She took note of who she'd been fighting in the end. She glanced around at the three others. They all seemed as exhausted as she felt. Rain noticed how, similar to herself, they all seemed to be hiding just how tired they really were. Rain glanced briefly at Derek. Rain had figured Derek would have lasted until the final battle so she wasn't surprised to find him still there. Rain and Derek shared a brief look, saying 'good job' to eachother with their eyes.

Rain looked away from Derek and studied the other two people there. It was a male and a female. They both looked to be about the same age as Rain. The boy had messy medium brown hair and green eyes that were partially covered by the shadow of his long bangs. He seemed slightly tall for his age, but looked like he could be a gymnast. The girl had raven colored hair that was pulled back into a high ponytail and intense blue-green eyes. She was about Rain's height and seemed just as agile. Rain was surprised to see it was the same two people she'd slightly recognized earlier. She still couldn't figure out why they looked so familiar, but she didn't let it bother her. She decided instead to reflect on the simulated battle she'd just been in.

Rain had been somewhat surprised by the outcome of the simulated battle. The four remaining combatants had all fired their beam riffles at the same time and had all "killed' eachother. Rain didn't take too much time to think about the battle. She had been trained in simulated MS battles by her father since she was little. She figured the others must have been trained in real or simulated battles for along time as well. Rain looked over at Shelly, waiting for him to speak.

"Congratulations. You four are all going on to the final test. However, you all seem exhausted. Therefore, the final test will commence tomorrow after you have all rested. I will explain the final test to you then" Shelly said as he glanced at them all. He glanced at Aldrico before he spoke again.

"Now if you will follow me, I will show you where you will be staying for the night." Shelly said as he started out the door. Rain, Derek, and the two others followed Shelly while Aldrico brought up the rear.

Shelly led the group down a series of beautifully decorated hallways within the mansion. He stopped in front of a door and unlocked it. He also unlocked the door to the room next door. He pointed to Rain and the other girl.

"You two girls will be staying in this room." Shelly gestured to the first room. He then pointed to Derek and the other guy.

"And you two will stay in that room." Shelly said as he gestured to the second room. "Both rooms have their own bathrooms. In the bathrooms you will find towels, bathrobes, and toiletries. Aldrico will stop by shortly with some outfits for you to sleep in as well as clothing for the final test. I will be back in eight hours to take you to your final test. Are there any questions?" Shelly asked, eying the group. No one spoke. Shelly nodded like he figured there wouldn't be any questions.

"Get plenty of rest before then." With that said, Shelly disappeared down the hallway.

Rain had noticed earlier that Aldrico had disappeared some time before they'd reached their rooms. She figured that he must have gone to go get their clothing like Shelly had said. Rain also noticed then that she and the others were still wearing the flight suits they'd worn for the VR battle. She was glad that Aldrico would be bringing other clothes. Her flightsuit was soaked with sweat so a change of clothes sounded great to her. Rain glanced briefly at Derek. They wordlessly wished eachother 'goodnight'. Rain noticed that the two people she didn't know had also shared a look. They both gave one quick nod, then turned to Rain and Derek. The boy opened the door to his and Derek's room. He and the other girl both went in. The boy and girl looked out from the 'boys' room and motioned for Derek and Rain to follow.

Derek looked at Rain to see what she thought. She shrugged and walked in after them. Derek followed. The boy Rain and Derek didn't know glanced out the door, then quickly shut it behind them.

To be continued...

-End of Chapter 7-

A/N: Incase anyone is wondering about my sanity as far as how freaky Shelly is... umm, well, there's reasons why I'm making him so twisted, but I can't tell you yet. You'll find out in later chapters. And NO, he is not going to rape anyone. So don't worry about that. Ok, well gotta go. Ja ne! Don't forget to review!  
-Aly Rain 


	8. Ch 8

Disclaimer: Simply put, I don't own Gundam Wing!  
AN: Enjoy the chapter! And please review!

Always There For You Chapter 8:

Rain and Derek watched as the tall brunette boy shut the door, then walked over to stand next to the girl they didn't know. The girl spoke up.

"Ok, we don't have much time, so I'm gonna explain things quickly." The girl said. Rain and Derek simply nodded, urging her to continue.

"First of all, I'm Chang Mei Li and this is Jason Barton." The girl said, gesturing towards the boy and herself. Rain realized at that moment why the two had looked so familiar. Mei Li and Jason looked a lot like their parents. Derek and Rain knew that the former gundam pilots, Chang Wufei and Trowa Barton, had kids Rain's age, but they'd never actually met them. The girl continued speaking.

"Our parents have been working on the same case as your parents have." Mei Li said with a nod towards Derek. Derek nodded to show that he already knew that.

"Our parents sent us to help you guys out. Our job now is to go look for Relena. Aldrico will be back soon with our change of clothes and Shelly will most likely come by to make sure we're not stirring up any trouble. He seems like the kind of person who would be suspicious of anyone. Especially since he's forming a team for the soul purpose of disrupting the peace. " Mei Li said. Derek and Rain nodded in agreement.

"So what now?" Derek asked.

"Well, first we should all take our showers so that Shelly won't be suspicious if he checks on us." Mei Li said.

"Ok, then what?" Rain asked.

"Then we'll get changed when Aldrico brings us clothes. And after that, we'll go find Relena." Mei Li answered. Rain and Derek nodded.

"I hope you guys aren't too tired from all that fighting today because I have a feeling things are gonna get rough." Mei Li said forebodingly. Rain and Derek both shook their heads. They'd almost completely recovered from all the training already. Mei Li and Jason looked like they were almost back to their full energy levels too.

"Alright, we'll meet back up in this room in an hour." Mei Li said as she headed towards the door. She waited for Rain to follow. Rain walked over to the door with her. Mei Li opened the door and peered out. When she was sure the coast was clear, she slipped out the door and into the hallway. Rain glanced briefly at Jason and Derek. Rain realized then that Jason hadn't spoken the entire time. She didn't really think about it for long. She figured he was just the quiet type like his dad. Rain nodded a goodbye to Derek and Jason before she slipped out the door behind Mei Li. Rain shut the door behind herself. She followed as Mei Li led the way into their room. Mei Li closed the door behind them after she had checked the hallway again.

About half an hour later, Rain and Mei Li had both taken their showers and were sitting on their beds, waiting for Aldrico to arrive with their change of clothes. They were clad in white terry bathrobes and were towel-drying their hair with light blue towels. Rain finished drying her hair as best she could and set the damp towel down beside her. She turned towards Mei Li while she waited for her to finish drying her hair.

When Mei Li finished drying her hair about a minute later, she set her towel aside and thought for a moment. Shelly had checked on the pair right after they'd both finished their showers. Rain and Mei Li were both happy that he hadn't stayed long.

Mei Li hadn't had any major encounter with Shelly like Rain had, but she still got a bad feeling whenever he was around. Her father would probably think of her as weak for letting one person creep her out so much, but Mei Li didn't care. She knew her mother would agree with her if she were there, and her father would probably agree if he'd actually been around Shelly. Mei Li knew her father always said women were weak, but he'd never called her or her mother weak. When he said things about women being weak around her mother, it seemed more like an ongoing joke between them. Mei Li knew that her father wasn't really sexist towards her mother. And she knew that her father was proud of her, despite the fact that she was a female.

When Mei Li was a baby, Wufei had made a secret vow that his daughter would be strong, like her parents. So far, Wufei had kept to his vow. Mei Li nearly matched her father in strength, skill, and knowledge. She was a perfect gundam child just like Rain, Derek, and Jason. Any of them could easily follow in their parents' footsteps, but none of the ex-pilots ever planned for them to do so. They simply wanted their kids to live normal lives, but be prepared should something ever happen. The ex-pilots knew all too well how things could spring up out of the blue. 

Mei Li glanced towards Rain. Mei Li felt a bit awkward with the silence between them. She and Rain hadn't really talked since they'd left the boys' room. Mei Li decided to try and start a conversation while they waited for Aldrico.

"So..." Mei Li began. Rain looked up at her.

"So...?" Rain said, quirking an eyebrow at Mei Li. Mei Li thought quickly for some random thing to talk about after she'd gotten Rain's attention.

"Are you and Derek a couple?" Mei Li asked. Rain laughed.

"No, we're just really close friends, been that way since we were little..." Rain said, smiling a bit as she remembered some of the good old times. Rain still saw Derek as always being a close friend of hers, even though she hadn't really known it was he and not some completely different guy named Max. The point was, Rain and Derek were buds, even when they didn't know that they'd already been friends back before Derek had moved away.

"Oh. Ok, just thought I'd ask...I couldn't think of anything to talk about." Mei Li said with a shrug. Rain nodded.

"Well, what about you and Jason? Are you two dating?" Rain asked. A half amused smirk crossed onto Mei Li's face. She looked even more like her father when she did that.

"No. We're just friends. We've known each other for years. Our parents have been working together throughout most of our lives and lived right by each other for the most part too...so...I guess it just made sense that we'd end up being friends." Mei Li said, still smirking slightly. Rain nodded, an empathetic look on her face.

"Yeah, it's the same with me and Derek. Our parents were best friends and worked together. So we always hung out together when we were little. And, after Derek moved back...we went to the same school." Rain said. Mei Li got a thoughtful look on her face.

"You mean when he and his parents moved back to Earth?" Mei Li asked. Rain nodded.

"I thought they weren't supposed to tell anyone they were back on earth, not even your dad...?" Mei Li said.

"Yeah, they didn't. It's really weird actually. Derek and I were friends before he moved to L2 back when we were little. And when he and his family came back, everyone called him Max, so I didn't really recognize him. I went by my middle name too, so he didn't recognize me either. And then, a few years later, we had mutual friends, and became close friends, even though we didn't recognize each other." Rain stopped, unsure if she was making any sense. Mei Li nodded like she understood.

"So you two both went by different names, didn't recognize each other as your childhood friends, but still ended up meeting later and becoming friends all over again?" Mei Li asked. She sounded intrigued. Rain nodded.

"So when did you guys finally recognize each other?" Mei Li asked.

"When we saw each other's parents, right before Derek moved back to L2." Rain answered.

"Ohhhh. You mean when the Preventors found that new evidence about your mom right?" Mei Li asked.

"Yep." Rain said simply.

"Wow, that is weird...Cool, but weird..." Mei Li said. Rain nodded.

"So what about you and Jason's parents? Are they close friends too? I haven't really seen your dads together in a while, so I don't really know how they get along." Rain said. Mei Li smirked slightly.

"Well, I guess they could classify as friends. Maybe this is bad for me to say, but my dad's not exactly the friendly type. And Jason's dad's usually pretty quiet. So, they're pretty close, but neither of them really show it." Mei Li said. Rain nodded, accepting the answer.

"So how come Derek and I never met you or Jason?" Rain asked. Mei Li shrugged.

"Well, Jason and I were both home schooled. I lived in L.A with my parents and Jason traveled around Earth and the colonies with his parents in the circus. My parents worked at the Preventors, and Jason's dad just helped the Preventors out every now and then when he wasn't busy with the circus. And with our parents being so busy with the case and all, I guess they never got around to introducing us." Mei Li said with another shrug. Rain nodded.

Neither Rain, nor Mei Li said anything for a while. They both wished that they had met under different circumstances, but neither of them voiced that opinion. They didn't know if they would see each other in the future either, but they both hoped so.

There was a knock on the door. Mei Li got up to answer it. Rain remained seated on the edge of her bed and watched. Mei Li opened the door. Rain could see Aldrico standing outside the door, in the hallway holding two black shoeboxes with a small stack of clothing folded on top.

"Here're you outfits." Aldrico said, handing the clothes and shoeboxes to Mei Li. She took them and Aldrico gave her a quick nod before turning and walking down the hallway. Mei Li shut the door and walked back over to Rain. She set the shoeboxes and clothes down on Rain's bed. Mei Li separated the clothing into two stacks. Rain pulled one stack towards herself and Mei Li took the other one. They both had received entirely black outfits. Their outfits consisted of a pair of black athletic pants, a black tank top, and a pair of black socks; even the sports bras and underwear they received were black. Rain and Mei Li quickly changed into their new outfits.

When they were finished dressing, Rain opened the shoeboxes and took out two pairs of black combat boots. She checked the sizes and handed one pair to Mei Li, keeping the other pair for herself. They both sat down on the edge of the bed to lace their boots up. While Rain was lacing up her left boot, she wondered how everything had been the right size. She shrugged it off, feeling no need to wonder about something so trivial at that moment. Rain slid the bottom of her pants leg over the top of her boot and stood up. Mei Li stood up as well. Rain picked up Mei Li's and her ponytail holders off of the bedside table. She handed Mei Li's to her. Rain and Mei Li both wordlessly pulled their hair back into high ponytails.

Rain looked herself over, then looked at Mei Li. Mei Li looked up after doing a quick check on herself as well. They both gave a slight nod showing that they looked alright. Mei Li glanced at her watch.

"Ok, time to go meet the boys. You ready?" Mei Li asked.

"Let's go." Rain said with a quick nod. They both walked over to the door.

Mei Li opened the door and checked the hallway. She stepped out into the hallway and nodded to show that the coast was clear. Rain shut the door behind herself before joining Mei Li in front of the boys' door. Mei Li knocked twice. The door opened after a fraction of a second and the girls slipped inside.

Jason, who had opened the door, quickly shut it behind Rain and Mei Li. He walked over to where they were standing by his and Derek's beds. Mei Li and Rain took a second to look Jason and Derek over. They were wearing outfits similar to the ones she and Mei Li were wearing. The only difference was that the boys had black formfitting t-shirts instead of the black tank tops the girls were wearing. They girls noticed that Jason and Derek were looking them over as well. They all shared looks showing that they all looked ok.

"You guys ready?" Mei Li asked.

"Uhmhm." Derek and Jason both said with a nod.

"What about you guys?" Derek asked. Rain and Mei Li both nodded affirmatively. Derek looked closely at Rain, asking her again with his eyes. She nodded once, a determined look coming onto her face.

"Ok, good." Derek said. Rain looked around at the other's faces. She wondered for a split second if Jason and Derek had talked to each other like she and Mei Li had. Rain decided to ask Derek later when there weren't more important things to consider.

There was a knock at the door, which interrupted Rain from her thoughts. Jason went to answer it. Rain had a tiny nervous shiver go through her when she saw Aldrico standing outside the door. She looked questioningly from Mei Li to Jason when Jason stepped aside and Aldrico walked in. Neither of them noticed her looks. She gave Derek the same look when he glanced at her. He appeared equally confused. Jason shut the door. He and Aldrico walked over to the others.

"Did you bring everything?" Mei Li asked as Aldrico set a medium sized, black duffle bag down on the floor. He crouched down and unzipped it before sliding it over to her.

"Yeah." Aldrico replied.

"Good." Mei Li said as she crouched down beside the duffle bag and reached inside. She pulled out an automatic handgun and clicked off the safety.

"Very good."

-End Of Chapter 8-

Gomen nasai for this chapter being so short! And I'm sorry this is so late. I haven't had Internet access for a while so I've been unable to get online and upload chapters.  
Well, what did you guys think? Do you love it, hate it, adore it, despise it? Please let me know! I need feedback before I put the next chapter up! So please please please review! Domo arigato minna! Ja ne!  
-AlyRain 


	9. Ch 9

Disclaimer: I don't own GW.

Always There For You Ch. 9:

Mei Li inspected the gun in her hand. Rain's eyes darted over to Derek. She caught his gaze and they both looked back over at Mei Li. They got into loose stances so that they would be able to react faster. Mei Li noticed their change of posture and gave them a curious look.

"What is it?" Mei Li asked, looking around the room. Rain nodded toward Aldrico. Mei Li stood up from her crouching position next to the duffle bag Aldrico had brought in.

"Don't worry. Aldrico's on our side." Mei Li said. She clicked the safety back on the gun in her hand and tossed it to Jason who was standing next to Rain. Jason caught the gun with one hand and spun it around a few times with his finger in the trigger hold. When the gun was facing the right way, Jason tucked it away into the back of his pants. Derek and Rain didn't relax. They still remembered how Aldrico had treated Rain after she'd almost broken his brother's arm. Aldrico turned towards Mei Li.

"I think I know what the problem is." Aldrico said. Mei Li gave him a look telling him to continue. Aldrico looked over at Rain and Derek.

"This is about me threatening you back when you nearly busted Scott's arm right?" Aldrico said to Rain. She didn't respond, but Aldrico knew the silence meant he was correct.

"Well. Let me explain about that. You see, Scott and I aren't on the best terms. Actually, we hate each other. But the point is, he's still my brother and I didn't want you trying to hurt him in the future that's why I threatened you. I didn't find out until later that you were just using self-defense. Scott said you'd just attacked him. I should've realized that is was Scott being his usual ass-hole self. That may seem like a shitty reason...but it's the truth." Aldrico said. Rain and Derek relaxed. They could tell Aldrico was being honest.

"I understand. You had every right to stick up for your brother. And, you didn't know what really happened." Rain said.

"Thanks for believing me." Aldrico said. Rain and Derek nodded.

"I guess you want to know how I ended up with Shelly too, right...?" Aldrico asked. Derek and Rain nodded again.

"Well, I'm not really the cold-hearted ass I may have come off as. It was all part of the cover. I've been working with the Preventors for about two years now, and when they first found out about Shelly being tied into Relena Dorlain Yuy's kidnapping, they sent me in to be Shelly's assistant. Shelly took a good liking to me I guess. So I've gotten far on the inside. And now that I know the layout of this place, I'm going to help you guys get Relena out." Aldrico said. Rain and Derek shared a look. They accepted Aldrico's explanation.

"Let's get to it then." Rain said with a determined look on her face.

"Right." Aldrico, Mei Li, Jason, and Derek all said in unison.

"So what else did you bring?" Derek asked Aldrico as he, Rain, Jason, and Aldrico all crouched down around the duffle bag.

About fifteen minutes later, Rain, Derek, Mei Li, and Jason followed Aldrico down a dark hallway. They froze suddenly when they heard voices coming from a door on their right. Aldrico motioned for them to hide. They clung to the wall to blend in with the shadows as the door they'd heard voices coming from opened, spilling light into the hallway. Rain, Derek, Mei Li, and Jason slid further down the hallway, along the wall to stay out of the light. Two maids carrying feather dusters, furniture polish, and cleaning cloths walked out of one of the many living rooms in Shelly's home. One of the maids closed the door behind them. The two maids stopped they're conversation when they saw Aldrico. They bowed slightly, then walked past him, disappearing down the dark hallway. Aldrico waited until he knew they gone before he let the others know it was safe.

"They're gone." Aldrico said quietly. Mei Li and the others stepped away from the wall and followed as Aldrico continued down the hallway again. At the end of the hall, they turned left and walked down another hallway. The new hallway was well lit and a lot shorter than the last one they'd walked down. The group was even more cautious since there were no shadows to hide in. Rain looked around carefully. She liked how the hallway was decorated. She had a feeling that Shelly hadn't been the one behind it's decoration. She brushed her thoughts aside and went back to listening closely for any sounds other than their steps.

Aldrico stopped in front of a door on the left side of the hallway. He turned to address the group.

"Ok. This is it. Are you guys ready?" Aldrico whispered. The group nodded. Aldrico turned and silently opened the door. He slipped in quietly with the others close behind. Aldrico shut the door behind them. The group looked around the large bedroom. The room was dark except for the miniscule amount of light from the driveway lanterns filtering through the window at the far left side of the room. Through the darkness of the room, the group could make out a figure lying on the luxuriant bed across the room from them. They crept closer and circled the bed. Rain looked closely at the figure. A look of longing crossed her face. The figure rolled onto its left side in its sleep and some of the dim light coming from the window fell on the figure's face. The sleeping figure was a female with long, honey brown hair flowing around her. Rain recognized the young woman as her mother. She looked up at Derek who was standing on the other side of the bed. Derek gave Rain a reassuring look, realizing that she must have been nervous beyond all belief at that moment. Rain smiled briefly at him, then looked at the others. Everyone except Rain and Aldrico stepped away from the bed and hid in the shadows; they remained standing beside each other on the left side of the bed.

Aldrico, who was closer to the head of the bed, looked at Rain.

"Are you ready?" Aldrico whispered. Rain nodded. Aldrico leaned towards Relena and gingerly touched her shoulder. Her shook her gently.

"Relena?" Aldrico said softly. Relena opened her eyes slowly and blinked a few times. She peered at Aldrico curiously.

"Aldrico? What is it?" Relena asked when she realized whom it was. She sat up in bed and waited for him to answer. She figured something had to be wrong for him to come to her room alone in the middle of the night.

"Is something wrong?" Relena asked. Aldrico shook his head. Relena noticed Rain for the first time and stared at her. She briefly studied Rain's entirely black outfit and noticed a gun tucked into the waistband on the right side of her pants.

"Do you recognize me...?" Rain said softly. Relena studied Rain's face. She didn't say anything; her eyes just grew wide.

"Mummy...?" Rain asked. Relena took a deep, shaky breath as her mouth gaped open. Rain figured she was going to say something. Nevertheless, Rain and the others weren't too surprised when Relena did something very different.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" Relena's piercing scream echoed throughout the room.

-End Of Chapter 9-

Please Review! Arigato minna!  
-AlyRain 


	10. Ch 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing!

-Always There for You Chapter 10-

Relena opened her mouth to scream again, but she passed out before the noise escaped her lips. Rain and the others heard footsteps running down the hallway and stopping before the door. Someone banged his or her fist on the door.

"Ms. Relena? Are you alright in there?" A voice called from the other side of the door. "Ms. Relena?" The voice shouted again when there was no answer. The guard on the other side of the door turned to one of his three companions. "You go get Shelly, you radio for back-up, and you come with me." The guard barked.

"Yes sir." The other guards replied. Rain and the others didn't wait around to see what the remaining two guards would do. Aldrico quickly scooped Relena up in his arms and walked over to the wall adjacent to her bed. He nodded towards the wall and Rain quickly felt around the panel for an opening. She pulled the hidden doorway open and Aldrico lead the way into the servants' corridor while still carrying Relena. The others followed close behind, Rain in the rear. Rain closed the hidden panel-door behind them right as the guards broke into Relena's room. Rain sprinted to catch up with the others who were already running down the maze of the servant's corridors.

The group paused in the dimly lit hallway of the servants' corridors to catch their breath. Aldrico gently set Relena down on the carpeted floor and crouched down beside her while he waited for his breathing to go back to normal. Rain kneeled on Relena's other side and watched her closely as she became conscious again. Relena sat up slowly, and she glanced at Aldrico and Rain. Relena opened her mouth to scream, but Aldrico quickly clasped his left hand over her mouth to silence her. Aldrico pulled out a gun and held it to Relena's head.

"Relena! Be quiet if you don't want to get hurt!" Aldrico hissed. Relena stared at Aldrico; her eyes were wild with fear.

"Ok, if I take my hand from your mouth, are you going to scream again?" Aldrico asked. Relena shook her head quickly. Aldrico slowly removed his hand from Relena's mouth. Relena opened her mouth in preparation to say something. She thought better of it and quickly clamped it back shut, unsure if Aldrico would assume she was going to scream again. Aldrico looked at her carefully.

"What do you want to say?" Aldrico asked, sensing her desire to speak.

"Why are you kidnapping me?" Relena asked in quiet, frightened voice.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Aldrico replied. Relena furrowed her brow.

"Why not? I'll be the judge of my beliefs. So tell me and we'll see." Relena said with a hint of defiance in her voice.

Aldrico shrugged. "Alright. About ten years ago, you were kidnapped by Shelly and brainwashed so that you wouldn't have any memory of your family, or what had happened." Aldrico said. Relena shook her head slowly from side to side.

"You're insane...Shelly would never do such a thing. He loves me..." Relena said softly. Aldrico thought for a moment, trying to think of something to convince Relena that he was telling the truth.

"Look at her, does she look at all familiar to you? She should, she's your daughter..." Aldrico nodded towards Rain. Relena scrutinized Rain. She looked down blankly at her hands, which she was wringing together in her lap. Her face held a thoughtful expression.

"Daughter...My daughter..." Relena whispered. An image of a little girl and a little boy sitting on a merry-go-round with a young man pushing the merry-go-round flashed through Relena's mind. She could hear the children laughing, but the sound seemed muffled, as though Relena were underwater.

"My daughter...R...Rain...?" Relena said softly. She tilted her head slightly to the side as though she were unsure. Aldrico glanced at Rain, then back to Relena. While Relena was distracted, Rain turned to look behind Relena where the others were leaning against the wall, no longer out of breath. Jason tossed Rain a small vial and a rag. Without missing a beat, Rain took the cap off the vial and poured the sweet smelling chloroform onto the rag. Rain lowered her hand with the chloroform rag to her side, where it wouldn't be noticed. Relena turned to look at her again. She studied Rain's face again.

"Rain...?" Relena repeated softly. Rain smiled slightly in an attempt to reassure Relena. She nodded slowly. Relena bowed her head and rubbed her temples slowly as though fighting off the remainder of a headache. She stopped, buried her face in her hands, and let out a cry of anguish.

"No...Lies..." Relena began softly. "It's all lies...you're LYING!" Relena screamed. Rain's smile fell. She glanced at Aldrico and he nodded at her. Rain quickly clamped the chloroform rag over Relena's mouth and nose. Relena's eyes slid shut and Aldrico caught her head before it hit the floor.

Rain and the others could hear footsteps rushing down the servant's corridor towards them.

"We have to go now!" Rain said as she and Aldrico quickly jumped to their feet. Aldrico picked Relena up again and started running down the hallway again. The others were not far behind.

Aldrico stopped before a doorway. Mei Li opened the door for him and the group ran out into the room beyond. Mei Li quickly shut the secret passageway behind them. They were now in the VR Simulation room.

Rain was relieved to see her father, Derek's parents, and Jason's dad, Trowa, were all there as planned.

"Glad you guys made it in ok." Aldrico said. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Carrying Relena while running from Shelly's guards had become a burden. Heero walked over to Aldrico.

"Here I'll take her." Heero said. Aldrico nodded as he handed Relena over to him.

"Thanks. She's pretty light, but carrying her while running wore me out." Aldrico said. Heero simply nodded again. He glanced down at Relena. Heero couldn't believe that Relena was there; alive; in his arms...

Heero shook himself from his thoughts, knowing that getting out of the mansion was more important at that moment.

"So we got Relena without too much trouble...now what?" Derek asked. Aldrico glanced towards a door at the back of the VR Room.

"We're going to go out that door, down the hall way to another secret passage leading down to the underground tunnels. The rest of the back-up should be waiting there." Aldrico replied while nodding his head towards the door he had been looking at.

"Then we're going to follow the tunnels to the shuttle station where there's a Preventors shuttle waiting." Hilde added. No more words circulated among the group before they headed towards the door. 

Once in the hallway again, the group located and crept through the secret passageway in the wall. A light came on once the doorway was shut behind them. They had come to a flight of metal stairs leading down into the underground tunnels the Heero, Duo, Hilde, and Trowa had entered from. The group hurried down the stairs, slowing only when they were about a quarter of a mile into the tunnels.

Rain looked around curiously as she walked silently between Derek and Jason. The walls of the tunnel were a shiny, silvery color that showed somewhat blurry versions of their reflections. The tunnel was extremely large, large enough for even a gundam to pass through. Rain and the others passed by countless side tunnels leading to different spots all over the colony. Rain figured that the tunnels were used during wartime for mobile suits to travel across the colony in secret should the colony be attacked.

Rain stirred from her thoughts and glanced at her father who was walking in front of her, with Duo and Hilde on his left. Heero was still carrying Relena in his arms. Rain noticed the tight, yet gentle way he was holding her, as though she might slip from his arms and disappear forever. Rain frowned slightly, remembering how Relena had reacted towards her when she, Aldrico, Mei Li, Derek, and Jason had first shown up in her room to get her.

"It has nothing to do with you. She just doesn't remember because she's been brainwashed, that's all." Derek whispered to Rain, reading her thoughts. Rain felt him grasp her left hand and squeeze it reassuringly. Rain looked down at her hand, then up at Derek. She laced her fingers together with his and forced a weak smile.

"I know...She'll remember everything after she gets help from the doctors over at the Preventors headquarters...and then everything will be OK again..." Rain whispered back, becoming more optimistic with those future plans. Derek nodded, smiling at her. Rain smiled back. They brought their gazes forward again. They were still holding hands, but neither seemed to notice or care.

About fifteen minutes later, Rain and the others were about a mile away from the shuttle station. Rain spotted Wufei, Sally, her aunt Noin and her uncle Milliardo, and a tall woman with shoulder length dirty blonde hair whom she recognized as Jason's mother, but couldn't remember her name. They were all standing next to three black, open topped, five-seat jeeps. 

"The shuttle's all ready to go, we just have to get to it and hope Shelly and his guards don't show up on the way." Milliardo said when Rain and the others reached the jeeps. No one spoke aside from Milliardo's announcement. They were all too eager to get to the shuttle station, get home, and write the mission off as a success.

Rain could hear a strange mechanical sound in one of the side tunnels to her right. The others heard it too. They turned to peer down the long side tunnel. In the distance, Rain could make out the shape of a serpent mobile suit. The others had seen it too and were rushing to get in the jeeps. Rain jumped into the back seat of the first jeep and Derek jumped in after her. Heero handed Relena over to Milliardo, and jumped in the back seat with Rain. Milliardo handed Relena back to Heero while Noin got in the driver's seat and started the engine. Rain turned to see Derek sitting on her left and Heero sitting on her right with Relena still cradled in his arms. Noin floored it as soon as Milliardo was in his seat up front. Rain didn't bother to see where everyone else sat in the other two jeeps.

Rain could feel her heart pounding as the Serpent entered the tunnel they were in. The Serpent was gaining on them. Rain glanced behind herself to see how close the Serpent was and saw two other Serpents had appeared behind the first one.

"Oh...shit..." Rain said quietly. The front Serpent was just about to fire at the jeep when blast fired from one of the tunnels behind the jeeps, to the left. A pair of white Tauruses with the Preventors symbol on the left side of the chest came out of a tunnel and began warding off the Serpents. Rain brought her gaze forward again and let out her breath slowly. Rain grasped Derek's hand and she laced her fingers with his again. She could feel her heart rate returning to normal. Rain was about to comment on how close they'd been to destruction when a blast from one of the Serpents suddenly hit the ground directly behind the jeeps. A wave caused by the explosion sent the jeeps rocketing forward, out of control. 

Rain felt dazed as she was flung from her seat. She could feel her adrenaline flowing rapidly throughout her body. She put her arms out in front of her right before she hit the floor of the tunnel. She did an awkward half somersault; half flip as she hit the floor of the tunnel and slid to a stop several feet from where she'd landed.

Rain lay on her back, breathing hard. Her heart was thundering in her chest. She took a deep breath and sat up. As soon as Rain was sure she wasn't dead and had no serious injuries, she painfully stood up on shaky legs and looked around for the others.

Rain had narrowly escaped serious injury. The only injurious she had were several small cuts all over her body and she would have twice as many bruises the following day. Rain's outfit was torn up and filthy from the explosion as well as from when she'd slid to a stop along the ground. Rain didn't care about her injuries or her outfit though she only cared if the others were all right.

Peering around the smoky tunnels, Rain spotted what looked like her father lying on his side a few feet away. She quickly ran to him, stepping carelessly over small piles of debris. She knelt by her father's side and checked for a pulse. Rain was relieved to discover he was alive and the only injuries aside from scrapes and bruises was a mild concussion on the right side of his head and his right arm was broken. Rain tried to rouse him from his unconscious state.

"Daddy? Daddy wake up. We've gotta get out of here." Rain said. She coughed from inhaling so much some smoke that was still billowing around in the tunnel. Heero didn't respond though. Rain looked around, trying to spot some of the others and figure out what had happened. Rain saw Derek, his parents, Milliardo, and Mei Li walking towards her. She spotted the others sitting or standing near by. She couldn't find Relena though. 

Rain looked beyond them at the smoldering jeeps as she pieced together what had happened. One of the Serpents had been able to get a clear shot at the jeeps and had taken it. At the last possible second, one of the Preventors Tauruses had hit the Serpent, causing the shot to hit the ground directly behind the jeeps instead of hitting them head on. Rain saw that one of the Serpents had disappeared and the other two were lying on the ground in charred pieces. The two Preventors Tauruses were standing nearby with only minimal damage.

"Rain? Are you ok?" Someone disrupted Rain from her thoughts. She turned to see Derek standing over her.

"Yeah I'm fine. My dad's unconscious though..." Rain said as she looked back down at Heero. She watched as Milliardo picked Heero up and slung him over his shoulder.

"Is everyone else ok?" Rain asked as she slowly got to her feet.

"Everyone else is fine...some broken bones, but nothing too serious though. That's not the more pressing issue at the moment...we need to get to the shuttle station. One of the jeeps is still intact and it could blow at any second." Hilde replied, a bit of urgency in her voice. Rain nodded. She saw that a few of the others were already heading in the direction of the shuttle station. Rain furrowed her eyebrows.

"Where's...?" Rain began. She stopped when she saw Trowa walking towards them with Relena in his arms. Sally and Wufei were at his side.

"Everyone's accounted for. Now lets get the hell outta this tunnel before the other jeep blows." Sally said. Rain and the other remaining few started walking towards the shuttle station, picking up their pace as seconds ticked by and the fire from the explosion came closer to the third jeep.

They weren't fast enough. The explosion from the last jeep shook the tunnel. Rain lost her balance and fell against the wall of the tunnel. Her forehead connected with the wall and her vision blurred. She fell to the floor with a thump. Rain blinked, trying to see through the haze of the smoke and fire around her. Her vision was twice as blurry while she fought to stay conscious. Rain could see Trowa and the others getting to their feet, but she couldn't make out who was who. She saw someone pick up who she thought was her still unconscious father. Rain's eyes felt extremely heavy. All she could see was shadows. Rain felt tired. She just wanted to close her eyes and hope her headache would go away. Rain's eyelids slid shut. She could hear voices shouting around her, but she couldn't tell what they were saying. It all sounded garbled.

Rain had the sensation of being lifted up. She felt as though she were flying. The person who had picked her up was running. Rain heard one thing clearly that made her head hurt even more than it already did.

"Where the fuck is Relena?" Duo shouted while he ran.

"Mommy..." Rain murmured before she slipped in the black abyss of her unconscious mind.

-xx-

Two weeks later in L.A,  
Dusk was on the horizon. Heero sat on a bench facing a fountain in the middle of a park. It was the same fountain, in the same park where Heero had first confessed his feelings for Relena. The park was empty aside from Heero and a pair of ducks swimming around in the fountain.

Heero stared intently into the fountain, listening to the gurgling, trickling sound the water made. It had been only two weeks since the mission to rescue Relena. Heero had been comatose for two days after the explosion in the tunnels. He'd woken up to discover his daughter was recovering from a concussion and Relena had disappeared again. Heero thought back to the conversation he'd had with Trowa when he'd come out of his coma.

'"...I was carrying her right before the third jeep blew up. We didn't make it out before it went though. The explosion knocked everyone over. Rain hit her head on the wall and Relena was flung out of my grasp." Trowa paused to see how Heero was grasping the news so far. He took a breath and continued.

"Derek picked Rain up and carried her to the shuttle...we couldn't find Relena anywhere...just the skid marks of some kind of automobile leading out of a side tunnel. Shelly must have shown up and grabbed Relena during the confusion when the third jeep exploded." Trowa studied Heero closely. He was clutching the sheets of his hospital bed and glaring at the wall in front of himself.

"Heero...I'm sorry." Trowa said sincerely. Heero loosened his grip on the sheets and let go of them. He masked his pain and turned to Trowa with a stoic look.

"No. Don't be sorry... At least Rain's alright." Heero said. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get some rest." Heero said monotonously. Trowa nodded. He knew Heero really just wanted to be left alone.

"Sure thing. I'll tell the others too." Trowa said as he headed for the door. He walked out without another word.

When Heero knew Trowa was gone, his masked expression fell. He buried his face in his hands and for the first time since he'd been told Relena was dead, Heero let his anguish free. Sobs racked his body as he cried...'

Heero frowned at the fountain. He'd been going to the park every evening since he'd left the hospital the previous week. Heero wasn't sure why he always went back to that same park. He figured it was because he thought that by some miracle, Relena would be there; waiting for him.

Concentric circles began forming in the fountain as rain droplets fell into it. The rain started as a light drizzle, then turned into a light shower. Heero barely noticed. He was far too enveloped in his thoughts and his memories of Relena. He didn't even notice that the ducks had flown away.

"Heero...?" A sweetly soft voice called from behind him. Heero looked up.

"Heero..." The voice repeated.

'There's no way...' Heero thought as he turned around. He nearly fell off the bench from shock. 

"Re-Relena? You're alive?" Heero said. He stood up and walked towards her. Relena smiled at him.

"Hello Heero." She said softly. Heero stopped directly in front of her and studied her closely. He told himself that he had to be imagining things. Relena was not really there before him, her clothes soaked with rainwater, her bangs plastered to her face. Heero quickly wrapped his arms around her. He had to know she was there, had to feel that she was there. Relena snuggled up next to him, pressing her face against his chest.

"Oh Heero..." She said softly. Heero knew then. He knew it was real. Relena was really there, in his arms.

"Relena I can't believe you're here." Heero said as he buried his face in her hair.

"I'm sorry...I'm so so sorry..." Relena said quietly. Heero loosened his grip on her and took a step back to study her face.

"What? Why are you sorry? There's nothing to be sorry about." Heero said with confused look creeping across his features. Relena smiled.

"I'm so sorry Heero...My dear, innocent Heero. " Relena said as she gently pulled out of his grasp. Heero got even more confused.

"Relena? What's going on?" Heero asked. Relena shook her head and reached for something in her jacket. She pulled out a gun and aimed it at Heero. His eyes grew wide.

"What the hell is going on?" Heero asked.

"Good bye Heero." Relena said as she clicked the safety off the gun in her hand. Heero spent a fraction of a second deciding what to do. He decided to first dodge the shot, then try to knock the gun away from Relena. Heero was about to act on his plan when Relena let out a startled cry. She pitched forward, her gun clattering to the ground. Heero caught Relena before she hit the ground. He looked behind her and saw Rain standing there, holding an automatic with a silencer at her side. Heero gently laid Relena down on her side and pulled off her jacket. He could see blood pooling on the damp, cement walkway from the shot wound on her back.

Rain ran to Heero's side.

"Daddy are you ok? I came here looking for you when you were late for dinner and then I saw that person was about to shoot you so I shot them first and...I'm sorry I didn't mean to kill 'em." Rain said; her hands were shaking at her sides. Rain suddenly noticed exactly whom she had shot. Her gun clattered to the ground and she covered the lower half of her face with her hands. She gasped.

Heero took off his shirt and pressed it to Relena's wound. Milliardo and Noin arrived in the park at that moment and ran over to Rain and Heero.

"What happened?" Milliardo asked as he looked from Relena, to Heero, to Rain, and back to Heero.

"Relena got shot." Heero said simply. Milliardo nodded, accepting the answer.

"I'll go get help." Noin said as she ran off.

"Oh no...I-I killed Mommy..." Rain said, her voice shaking. Rain took a step back. "I'm sorry...I didn't know-I..." Rain shook her head slowly as tears began streaming down her cheeks. Heero and Milliardo looked up at Rain.

"Rain, it wasn't your fault. You didn't kill Mommy." Heero said, trying to reassure Rain and not show the panic he felt. Rain just shook her head and took another step back.

"Rain, listen to me. Mommy died a long time ago...you didn't kill her." Heero said. Rain had a faraway look.

"Mommy...I'm so sorry." Rain whispered before she turned away and ran.

"Rain wait!" Heero called after her. He started to get up, but Milliardo stopped him.

"Let Rain go. I don't think we can help her right now, but we may be able to help Relena." Milliardo said. Heero nodded, realizing that Milliardo was right.

'Rain, I hope you're ok...' Heero thought as he brought his focus back to Relena.

"Hold on Relena help's on the way." Milliardo said as he looked at Relena's paling face.

-xx-

Rain had stopped running and had been wandering around aimlessly for two hours. She had stopped crying and simply felt numb. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel, so at that time, numb was good.

Rain looked around. She finally wondered where she was. She recognized her surroundings immediately. She'd recognize the cozy little neighborhood anywhere. Rain looked up at the house before her. It was a large, three story, light blue house that looked very inviting.

Without making a sound, Rain silently walked through the lawn, around to the back of the house. She stopped in front of a tall tree that grew beside the house. She skillfully climbed up into the tree and didn't stop climbing until she was level with the roof of the house. Rain silently climbed onto the roof from an overhanging branch. The roof was slanted and slick with rainwater, so Rain was careful not to loose her balance. She crouched down beside a skylight and tapped on it lightly. A figure stirred on the bed below the skylight. The figure sat up slowly, unsure if they'd simply imagined a noise. Rain tapped on the skylight again and the person on the bed below looked up at her.

Derek peered up at the skylight. He could see Rain looking down through the glass. He stood up on his bed and unlatched the skylight. He pushed it open.

"Rain? What're you doing here?" Derek asked. He noticed that it had stopped raining outside. Rain wasn't sure exactly what to say. She wasn't even positive on why she was there.

"I...something bad happened and I don't want to go home right now...can I stay here with you?" Rain said softly. Derek nodded slowly.

"Sure. Come on in." Derek said. Rain slowly slid in the small opening, feet first. She landed on Derek's bed with a muffled thump. Derek reached up and closed the skylight, then sat down beside Rain on the edge of his bed. He noticed that she was shivering.

"Rain you're soaking wet...what happened?" Derek asked, noticing the far away look in Rain's eyes.

"I..." Rain choked back a sob as her eyes filled with tears again. She couldn't bring her self to talk about what had happened. Derek rubbed her back gently.

"Hey, it's ok. We can talk about it later. Right now, let me just help you get dry and warm. Derek stood up gently pulled Rain to her feet. He led Rain over to the open door of his bathroom. He flicked on the light.

"Ok, go take a nice hot shower, and hang your wet clothes up on the shower curtain rod when you're done. I'll try to find you some dry clothes to wear." Derek said. Rain nodded and walked into the bathroom. Derek watched as she closed the door then he walked over to his closet walk-in closet. Derek walked in and looked around for something for Rain to wear. He walked back out a few seconds later and shut the door to his closet.

Rain stuck her head out of the bathroom door about a minute afterwards. She was clad in only a dark blue bath towel.

"Here. Get dried off, then put these dry clothes on. You'll feel better." Derek said as he handed a dark blue t-shirt and a pair of black soccer shorts to Rain. Rain took the clothes and shut the bathroom door again so she could change.

Rain walked back out and sat down on the edge of Derek's bed. She opened her mouth and started to speak, but clamped her mouth shut again when she couldn't form the words.

"Later...For now, just try to get some sleep OK?" Derek said. Rain nodded. Derek reached towards the top of the bed and pulled the covers back for Rain. Rain climbed under the covers and laid her head down on the pillow. She looked as though she were on the verge of tears again. Derek lay down on Rain's right. Rain curled up beside him and laid her head on the front of his shoulder. Derek wrapped his arms around Rain her to comfort her. She snuggled closer to him and nuzzled his chest slightly, gathering warmth from his nearness. Rain's eyes slowly slid shut and she drifted off to sleep, feeling cozy and serene in her best friend's arms.

"Goodnight Rain." Derek whispered before he fell asleep too.

-End of Chapter 10-

Please review minna! Domo arigato!  
-AlyRain. 


	11. Ch 11

Disclaimer: See chapter 1 Author's Notes: Hey minna-san! Gomen nasai. I know I took an extremely long time to update. I will try very hard to get chapters up faster. (And hopefully I'll have less homework which will help.) Please don't forgwet to review! It's means worlds to me!

Always There For You Chapter 11:

Hilde knocked lightly on Derek's bedroom door. She did not hear response, so she knocked again, somewhat louder than the first time.

"Derek?" Hilde called softly. If Derek was not awake already, Hilde did not want wake him. She had no desire to disturb his peaceful slumber just to give him the bad news that Rain had gone missing the previous night.

Hilde put her hand on the doorknob and opened the door a little. She pushed the door open soundlessly and poked her head into the bedroom. The sunlight that filtered through the skylight above Derek's bed was dim due to the morning overcast that day. There was just enough light for Hilde to see Derek's bed and determine if he was still there, asleep.

Hilde's eyes widened slightly. She opened the door further and leaned into the room. She could see that Derek was still in his bed, asleep, but he was not alone. Hilde noticed how Rain was laying on Derek's shoulder and he had one arm draped around her.

Hilde had been standing on tiptoe, leaning into the room. She leaned further in, putting more of her weight on the door. The door opened inward, and with Hilde putting more weight on it, it slowly opened further. Hilde lost her balance and stumbled into the room. She fell to the floor on her hands and knees with a dull thud.

Cursing silently at her own clumsiness, Hilde slowly looked up at the bed to see if she had awakened Derek or Rain. She was relieved to find that they were still asleep. Hilde slowly stood up, all the while watching Derek and Rain. Duo ran up behind Hilde.

"Hilde? What's going on? I heard a thud..." Duo said quickly as he looked into the room from the doorway. Hilde waved a hand behind herself without looking back.

"Shh! Shh! Shh! You'll wake them up!" Hilde whispered. She turned around to look at Duo.

"Oh! Right...Sorry." Duo whispered back. He grinned sheepishly at Hilde while he rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand. Hilde smiled at his reaction. Duo's expression suddenly changed to confusion. He dropped his hand to his side and looked at Hilde quizzically.

"Wait, 'them'?" Duo asked. He looked past Hilde at Derek's bed. His eyebrows shot up when he saw that Rain was there too.

"Rain? What's Rain doing here-in Derek's bed?" Duo exclaimed. Hilde shrugged. She put a finger to her lips, signaling for Duo to be quiet.

"We'll ask them when they wake up. For now, let's just let them sleep. From what Heero said when he called this morning, Rain had a pretty rough night..." Hilde said softly as she glanced over her shoulder at Derek and Rain. She turned back to Duo as she began to walk out the door. She waited for Dup in the hallway. Duo turned around to follow Hilde out of the room. He looked over his shoulder at Derek and Rain while he walked out.

"You're right. We should wait to talk to them. And I'm sure they haven't done anything..." Duo said as he turned his head to look at Hilde. She simply nodded at him. Duo stopped by Hilde's side, just outside Derek's door. He put his arm around her waist and smiled at her.

Hilde leaned into Derek's room to grasp the doorknob and pull it closer in order to shut it. She paused before pulling it shut.

'They still look so cute together.' Hilde thought.

"Besides, they know better." Duo said as an afterthought while he shot a stern look at the sleeping pair. Hilde laughed lightly as she pulled the door shut. Duo's stern look melted into a grin.

"I'm sure they do." Hilde said. Duo nodded slowly while he stared at the closed door. Hilde put her arm around him and pulled him away from the door, down the hallway.

"C'mon Duo. Let's go finish making breakfast." Hilde said.

"Oooh! Breakfast...I almost forgot." Duo said as they descended the stairs. "What are we making?

-xx-

Rain blinked her eyes open. She looked towards the door.

'I knew I heard someone." Rain thought. Rain had heard Hilde's light knocking on Derek's door. She had not wanted to form an explanation first thin gin the morning so she pretended to still be asleep, knowing Hilde would not try to wake her or Derek. Rain had waited until she heard Hilde and Duo walking quietly down the stairs before she had opened he eyes. For a moment, Rain had worried that Duo would try to wake Derek and herself up and make her explain her presence in Derek's bed. She was relieved that Hilde had convinced Duo to just let them sleep.

Rain glanced at Derek's arm without moving her head and disturbing him. She noted that his arm was still draped over her middle, radiating warmth. Regretfully, Rain slowly lifted Derek's arm and slid away from him. She gently laid his arm back down where she had been laying on the bed.

Watching Derek all the while, Rain lifted the covers enough to slip out of them. She sat up slowly and rotated her body, setting her feet on the soft, carpeted floor.

Rain stood up slowly. She smiled sadly at Derek's peaceful expression while he slept. She leaned over and whispered lightly beside his ear.

"I'm sorry." Rain said. She brushed back his bangs and lightly kissed his forehead. Then, she quickly stood up straight again. A silent sigh escaped Rain's lungs as she glanced longingly at Derek, knowing the comfort he offered simply by being close to her.

As Rain turned away from the bed to leave, Derek grabbed her arm and pulled her backwards, into a sitting position beside him on the bed. Rain had been caught off guard and took a second to let her head clear from being jerked backwards so suddenly and unexpectedly.

Rain turned to look at Derek who was sitting up with his eyes locked on her. He let go of her arm and grinned.

"I knew you were awake when my mom knocked on the door. Guess you weren't in the mood for making explanations either." Derek said. Rain shook her head. Derek's grin slowly fell when he saw that Rain was not in a joking mood. He thought back to what he had overheard Hilde say when she and Duo were in his room debating whether or not to wake Rain and him up.

"I remember what my mom said, about you having a rough night... That's why you came here, and why you were so upset." Derek said as he put things together in his head. Rain did not answer, she simply looked down at the comforter, her eyes shadowed with sadness. Derek nodded, understanding her unspoken thoughts.

"I understand if you don't want to talk about it right now, but please don't leave. I know you were planning on sneaking out before you knew I was awake... I think you should stay here. Atleast until you're not as upset." Derek said. Rain did not answer.

"Besides, where were you going to go anyway? I know you were not planning to go home. Were you just going to wander around the city?" Derek continued. Rain shrugged. She really wasn't sure herself.

"You're off balance. Wandering around alone is a bad idea." Derek said pointedly.

"You're right. I think I'll stay longer." Rain said, speaking up for the first time.

"Good. And don't worry about my parents asking questions. If they know that you're upset, they'll save the interrogation for later." Derek offered Rain a smile. She looked up at him and smiled weakly. Derek could see the gratitude in Rain's eyes amidst all the pain. He nodded to show her that he understood her silent "thanks".

"Well, I think you should go take a nice, hot shower My parents will most likely have breakfast ready by the time you're done. You really should try to eat something." Rain nodded and stood up. She walked towards the bathroom and paused outside the door.

"What do you want me to do with the clothes I borrowed?" Rain asked. Derek pushed back his comforter and got out of bed.

"Just put them in the hamper in the bathroom."

"K."

"Hey wait a sec." Derek stopped Rain as she stepped in the door. Derek walked into the bathroom and pulled Rain's still damp clothes from the shower curtain rod.

"I'll go put these in the washer and see if my mom has some clothes you can wear until they're done." Derek said.

"Ok...Thanks." Rain said. Derek stepped out of the bathroom with Rain's clothes from the previous night in his arms and closed the door behind himself.

-xx-

About ten minutes later, Derek knocked on the door to his bathroom when he heard the flow of water from the shower faucet stop. Rain opened the door wide enough to stick her head out.

"Here I got some clothes from my mom." Derek said as he held a small of clothing out to Rain. She stuck an arm out the door and took the bundle of clothes from him before she closed the door to change.

Rain stepped out of the bathroom a moment later wearing the gray-blue spaghetti strap top and black shorts Derek had brought her. She had her hair wrapped up in a towel to dry it a little.

"Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes. I'm going to take quick shower before I go downstairs. You can go ahead down to the kitchen if you want." Derek said. Rain considered it for a moment.

"No, I'd rather wait here for you." Rain said. Derek walked over to his walk-in closet to retrieve some clothes. He walked back out and looked at Rain.

"Alright. I won't be long." Derek said. He walked into the bathroom with his change of clothes in hand.

"K." was all Rain said in response. Derek nodded and shut the bathroom door behind himself.

A few minutes later, Rain and Derek walked downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast. Hilde was carrying a stack of plates to the counter while Duo carried the plate of waffles and bowl of scrambled eggs. Duo and Hilde both looked up when they heard Rain and Derek enter the kitchen. They quickly set the food and plates on the counter and rushed over to Rain. They quickly had her wrapped up in a tight hug.

"Your dad called earlier this morning and told us what happened last night...and that you were missing." Duo said.

"We're glad you're here and that you're safe." Hilde added. She and Duo both slowly let go of Rain and looked at her.

"You probably don't want to talk or think about it right now though...so let's just eat and think about it later ok?" Hilde said with a warm smile. Rain wondered if Heero had said anything about Relena's condition when he'd called, but she wasn't sure she wanted to know so she decided against asking.

"Ok. I'm getting kinda hungry anyway." Rain said.

-End of Chapter 11-

-AlyRain 


	12. Ch 12

Disclaimer: see chapter one.

Always There For You Chapter 12:

December 18th, A.C. 194.

Rain was in her sixth period Honors Geometry class, taking a quiz on parallelograms. She punched a few numbers into her graphing calculator and tapped the top of her mechanical pencil silently on her desk while she thought.

'It has a perpendicular bisector...so that means 2x+7 and 3x+4 equal 90...so x is...' Rain quickly worked out the algebraic equation and jotted down her answer. She skimmed her quiz to make sure she had answered every problem, then flipped her paper over to show she was finished as her teacher had instructed. 

Rain glanced around and saw that many of her classmates were still taking their quizzes. She looked down at her scrap paper and began doodling while she thought about the past month's events.

It had been one month since Rain had accidentally shot Relena. The day after Rain had run away to Derek's house, she had returned home to find out that her mother was alive, but she was in a coma. Heero had offered to take Rain to visit her, but Rain had denied his offer. She still felt guilty about what had happened, and was worried about how her mother would react to her if by chance, she woke up. Rain remembered the pain that had sliced her heart after Relena had first seen Rain at Shelly's mansion. Rain just didn't know if she could go through that again.

Rain's geometry teacher walked around the room collecting quizzes once all the students had finished. Rain glanced at the clock on the wall to her right above the classroom vid- phone/intercom. Rain was sitting in the second to last seat in the row farthest from the door. Her friend's were in the same class, sitting near by. Rain was happy that all her friends from the previous year had all ended up in her math class again.

Sitting directly behind her, since the seating chart was done in alphabetical order, was Katrina Zeara. Sitting one seat up, to Rain's right was Alisa Tice. Chelsea Wales was seated in the first seat of Rain's row, directly in front of Rain.

"Hey Rain..." Katrina whispered from behind her. Rain shifted in her seat so she could turn her head slightly in Katrina's direction without being too obvious.

"Yeah?" She responded.

"How do you think you did on the quiz?"

"Good. It was really easy." Rain spoke in her normal, indoor voice after the teacher announced the quiz was over and everyone could talk again. Chelsea turned around in her seat to talk to Rain and Katrina. Rain turned her whole body sideways so she could see everyone while she talked. Alisa, who was to the right of the other three girls, turned sideways to see everyone as well.

"Are you excited about tonight?" Alisa asked. She was referring to Rain's birthday party that evening. Rain's birthday was the Tuesday of the following week, but Rain had wanted to have the party on the weekend, so she and her father had planned it for that day; Friday.

"Yeah. It's gonna be really fun." Rain answered.

"Who all is coming?" Chelsea asked. Rain thought for a moment.

"You three, Jack, Derek..." Rain trailed off momentarily while she recalled the names of the other guests.

Derek and his parents had moved back to LA the previous month after the mission to get Relena back. Derek, Jack, Chelsea, Alisa, Katrina, and Rain had all been hanging out together since he had returned. It was as though he had never left.

In the past month, Jack and the others had all met Mei Li and Jason as well. They were still home-schooled, but, they normally got together with the Rain and the others after school and on weekends. Rain was not surprised that Chelsea and the others had gotten along well with Jason and Mei Li right away. She knew all her friends were very warm and friendly and they had been open to new members entering their little group.

Of course, Chelsea and the others had no clue about the rescue mission for Relena. It was kept a secret with in the former gundam pilots' families. Rain had introduced Jason and Mei Li to the others as having met them because their parents were her father's co-workers. Which was true, it simply was not the entire story.

"Jason and Mei Li, are coming and my aunt and uncle might stop by...and...Uhm...I think some more people RSVP'd, but I can't remember who." Rain shrugged. 

The bell rang signaling the end of the school day. Rain, Chelsea, Alisa, and Katrina all put on their backpacks and headed out the door, for their lockers.

There was a lot of commotion in the hallways that afternoon as students rushed about, trying to hurry up and leave. It was 2:45 p.m. on Friday, and also the last day of school before winter break. Rain and her friends were bustling with excitement. It was finally winter break. They were all looking forward to two weeks of staying up late, sleeping in, and no school. Rain's birthday party was a good kick-off to that winter break too. They could start off their break with a bang.

When the group reached the quad in front of the school, Rain's father was already there, waiting. Heero had promised to take Rain to the store immediately after school to get some last minute things for her party. She wanted to get the shopping over with so that they would have time to set everything up and still have some spare time to do whatever else.

Rain said her good-byes, then hopped into the car. Everyone was supposed to arrive at the Yuy home about three hours from then, around 6 p.m.

After Rain was in the car and had her seat belt on, Heero pulled the car away from the curb. Without taking his eyes off the road, he spoke to Rain.

"We have to go to Party Boutique first to get the balloons." Rain said. 

"Did you call last night and give them our order?"

"Yep. I told them we'd be there to pick the balloons up between 3 and 3:30." Rain settled into her seat. She couldn't wait for that evening.

-xx-

Ping! The doorbell rang. Rain looked up at her father. She and Heero were both in the kitchen, setting out refreshments. Rain glanced at her watch. It was about 6:25 p.m.

After Rain and her father had returned from their party supply shopping, they had immediately started decorating the living room and kitchen. The living room, kitchen, and foyer were a big mass of color. There was various colored crepe paper and balloons lining the ceiling, doorways, and even the ceiling fans. Rain and Heero were proud of their work. They had decorated in a hurry, having still had to set out the refreshments and the like.

"I'll finish setting up in here. You go answer the door." Heero said. Rain nodded and set the tray of chips and salsa down on the counter. She ran from the kitchen to the front door.

Rain subconsciously ran her fingers through her hair; it was a little damp. Rain and Heero had had to take quick showers after the decorating was done. They'd both wanted to look fresh for the party. When Rain had finished showering, there was only about fifteen minutes before people would start arriving. She had to half way blow dry her hair, then rush downstairs to help her father finish setting up for the party.

Rain pulled open the door and looked out onto the porch. She smiled when she saw Katrina.

"Hey Katrina! C'mon in." Rain said, stepping aside so that Katrina could walk in. Katrina smiled back and entered the house. She turned around to wave goodbye to her father who was in the driveway. He waved back and left. Katrina turned back to look at Rain. Rain shut the door. She led the way to the kitchen where her father was setting a stack of clearish-neon plastic cups on the counter.

"Katrina's here." Rain said, gesturing towards her. Heero looked up at Katrina.

"Hello Katrina." Heero said with a light smile. Katrina greeted him back, then turned to Rain.

"Here. This is for you." Katrina said. She held out a present wrapped in dark blue paper.

"Oh. Thanks." Rain said with a smile. She took the gift and set it on the kitchen table among a few other gifts from her relatives.

"So...I'm the first one here huh?" Katrina said.

"Yep." Rain said simply. Katrina watched as Heero set out plates and napkins.

"Anything I can do to help?" Katrina asked. Heero looked up.

"No, I've got it. But, you can go help Rain pick out some music." Heero suggested. Katrina nodded. She followed Rain into the living room where the receiver for the stereo system was.

Katrina and Rain sat down on the light blue carpeted floor of the living room before the large built-in-the-wall wooden cabinet that held the TV and stereo system receiver. Rain set a stack of CDs between them. They searched through the stack, chattering while they looked.

They finally decided on a poppy/rock CD that both the adults and teens would like. Rain put the CD in the CD player and turned on the surround sound speaker system. She hit another button to turn on the surround house speakers. The sound system was wired through the kitchen, living room, foyer, and den. It made the house sound less dead than it had previously.

"...yeah. Nick seems really sweet...Why?" Rain asked with a smirk. Nick was a guy that Katrina and Rain had met in their English class at the beginning of the year. She had thought about inviting him along with several other people whom weren't really in their "group", but had decided against it. Rain had figured they would have felt too awkward not knowing most of the other people there.

"No reason." Katrina smiled sheepishly. Rain was about to press it further, but the doorbell rang.

"Let's go see who's here." Rain said. She and Katrina went back into the foyer without saying anything more.

-xx-

About half an hour later, all of the party guests had arrived. Rain was in the kitchen with Chelsea, Jack, Katrina, and Alisa getting drink refills. Mei Li, Jason, and Derek had decided to stay in the living room along with the adults.

"My dad finally realized who you were." Jack said. Rain gave him a quizzical look.

"What do you mean?" Rain asked, as she put more ice into her cup.

"Well. I used to always call you Stephania, and sometimes I still do, but, you never really go by that anymore." Jack explained. Rain was still confused.

"So...he thought Rain and Stephania were two different people?" Rain asked. Jack nodded.

"By the way, why did you switch back to using Rain?" Chelsea asked.

"Well...to be honest, Stephania's not really my middle name. It was my first grade teacher's sister's name. That woman was evil. She said my name wasn't really a name...so she said I should go by a real name. And, she wrote it on all my school stuff, so, whenever I went to a new grade, the teachers always called me Stephania." Rain said.

"Then why did you say it was your middle name?" Jack asked. Rain shrugged.

"I guess I was embarrassed."

"Oh well, everyone's calling you Rain now. So it's cool. I just thought the look on my dad's face was funny when he said, 'Oooooh! THAT girl'." Jack said with a grin.

"I've never even met your dad." Rain said. "The one time I would have seen him...when he picked you up from school, I didn't even think to look." Rain got a thoughtful look on her face. She had seen Chelsea and Jack's mother during all the times she had been over at their house, but their father had always been at work or away on business.

Jack and Chelsea shared a curious look.

"You've never met him...he's here...you're the one who greeted him. He works with your dad." Chelsea said. Everyone in the group looked at Rain. She tilted her head to the side slightly.

"Huh? I would've known who your dad was if he worked with my father...I know all the people my dad works with. They're all my sorta...adoptive aunts and uncles." Rain said. 

"Does he have a different last name than you two...?" Katrina asked.

"Yeah. My mom and I have different last names..." Alisa added. Chelsea and Jack both shook their heads. Duo walked into the kitchen at that moment. He smiled at the group of teens. 

"Hey, you guys having fun?" Duo asked.

"Yeah." They all chorused. Rain looked at Duo.

"Hey Duo. Do you and my dad work with a guy who's name is Mr. Wales?" She asked. Duo thought for a moment.

"Nope. Sorry. Name doesn't sound familiar. Maybe your dad would recognize it." Duo said with a shrug He picked up his drink and walked back out into the living room.

"I don't get it...you said I greeted him...He's here...but, I have no clue how I could know your dad, but not know he is your dad..." Rain said.

"Well, I'll go get him and your dad. Then we can figure this all out." Jack said. Rain nodded. Jack walked out into the living room.

He returned a minute later with Heero and Quatre.

"What's the problem?" Heero asked, looking at the group.

"Uncle Quatre's your father?" Rain exclaimed.

"Yeah..." Jack and Chelsea both said simply. Heero looked at Quatre with an equally puzzled look.

"Jack and Chelsea are your kids? Explain..." Heero said. Quatre smiled.

"I thought you knew...then again...I guess the subject of kids doesn't come up much when I'm actually at Preventor's..." Quatre began. Heero, Rain, and the others in the kitchen at the time gave him looks telling him to continue.

"Ok...first of all. Uhm...yes, these are my children. And, as you know, Dorothy's my wife." Quatre said. Rain knew Ms. Dorothy Wales, but she did not know her father knew her too.

"Dorothy...and you had kids...?" Heero asked. Rain was getting more and more confused.

"Yes. You see, after the Eve Wars, I ran into Dorothy and well..." Quatre glanced briefly at all the teens still in the room, listening closely. "One thing led to another... And Dorothy was pregnant with Jack. After that, we decided to get married. And, as heirs to the Winner Corporation, Jack and Chelsea would have media after them. Dorothy and I didn't want that. So, we changed the family name from Winner to Wales shortly after Jack was born." Quatre finished.

Jack and Chelsea already knew that story. They simply forgot about the changed last name when they were trying to explain to Rain how she knew their father. Their last name had been changed before they were born and was not discussed often, so they had no real reason to think about it.

Rain nodded, taking it all in. Everything became clear to her. She still had no idea how her father new Ms. Wales. She figured she must have some how been involved in the wars her father had fought in years before. Alisa and Katrina were the only two who did not really know what it all meant. They did not really mind though. They knew why Rain did not know who Jack and Chelsea's parents were, and that was good enough for them.

"Apparently, we don't all talk enough at work...or see enough of each other outside of work. Jason and Mei Li just met the others about a month ago." Heero said. Quatre nodded. There was a gap of silence, so Rain spoke up.

"Hey, I think we should eat the cake now..." Rain said. Heero nodded. He walked to the freezer and pulled out the ice cream cake. The cake was in a plastic container; so, Heero had to pull the lid off after he set it down on the counter in order to put the candles in.

"Rain, why don't you go move all the presents to the coffee table. You can open them while everyone eats their cake." Heero said.

"Ok." Rain said. She looked over at her friends. "Will you guys help me?" Rain asked. They all nodded. Rain picked up a few of the gifts and walked into the living room. With the help of the others, she managed to transport all the gifts from the kitchen table to the coffee table in one trip. Quatre had followed them out to inform everyone else that it was cake and present time. He set a knife, a stack of paper plates, and a stack of napkins down on the coffee table in the clear spot so that Heero could cut the cake after Rain blew out the candles.

Heero switched off the light and carried in the candle-lit cake. Everyone crowded around the coffee table and began singing...

"Happy Birthday to you..."

-xx-

It was December 23rd, A.C. 194, two days after Rain's birthday. The party had been about a week before that. Rain was lying on her stomach, on her bed. She looked out the window at the fluffy clouds that passed by. She glanced at her clock. It was noon. She and Chelsea had planned to see a movie around 3 p.m. that afternoon.

Rain was bored. She wanted to get out. Her father was at work that day. She had the house to herself and it was lonely. She would have gone to Chelsea's earlier that day, but she had to wait for Chelsea to get home. Chelsea had gone shopping for last minute Christmas presents with her mother that morning. It was the day before Christmas Eve. Rain and her father had already finished all of their shopping.

Out of all the people Rain knew, only Katrina's and Alisa'a families really celebrated the religious part of Christmas. There were so many different religious beliefs among her father's and her friends. None of them really cared though. Everyone had the mutual agreement that Christmas was mostly about being with your loved ones and doing something special for them.

Rain's stomach grumbled. She realized she had not eaten yet that day. She pushed herself off her bed and walked downstairs to the kitchen to get something to eat. There was still over two hours to kill before Chelsea got home. Rain decided she would eat and watch TV for a little bit before Chelsea came to pick her up.

On her way down to the kitchen, Rain thought about her birthday party a few days earlier. She thought it was interesting that her "uncle" was Chelsea and Jack's father. It also brought Chelsea, Jack, Derek, Jason, Mei Li, and Rain closer together. They all had an ex-gundam pilot for a parent. Their parents all worked together with the preventors, so it was one less secret Rain had to keep from them. Of course, Rain and the others still could never tell Alisa and Katrina about the preventors, the fact that she was related to a former gundam pilot, or that her mother had been kidnapped years ago by a psychopath out to disrupt the peace between Earth and the colonies. Rain hoped that one day things would be different and she could tell Alisa and Katrina everything that she and the others knew.

After Rain and Heero found out about the Wales actually being the Winners, the party had gone on with out much conflict. Rain had opened all her presents, everyone had had cake, then everyone went home after they all watched a movie. Everyone had had a great time.

Rain had reached her destination of the kitchen. She searched mindlessly through the cabinets and the fridge trying to decide what to eat. She did not spend too much time thinking. Her stomach was all but growing a mouth and verbally telling her not to be picky.

Grilled cheese and a green apple. Rain knew grilled cheese wasn't the healthiest thing to eat, but it was easy enough to make. She just hoped she wouldn't be too full for that one-of-a-kind movie theater popcorn. (A/N: YUMMY!)

-xx-

Later that day, at about 6 p.m., Rain was standing on her front porch. Chelsea and her mother had just dropped Rain off after the movie. Chelsea and Rain had gone to see a drama/action movie based on the Eve Wars of A.C. 195. They whispered comments back and forth to each other and covered their mouths with their hands while they calmed their fits of laughter. Keeping their noise level to a minimum proved to be a very difficult task. The movie had a deeply romantic plot that totally destroyed the non-fictional basis. The idea for the movie had started out based on a collection of recorded interviews and writings from soldiers, but the movie writers had turned it into a two-hour love story.

An old woman sitting beside Chelsea had been totally captivated by the plot. She had cried twice during the movie. Rain and Chelsea had to hold back their grins when they offered the woman napkins to use as tissues.

Chelsea and Rain had heard many things about the war from their parents. The movie had been quite humorous. The acting had been terrible; they had turned battle scenes into a soap opera. There was far more drama than anything else. By the time Rain and Chelsea had left the theater when the movie was over, they weren't sure how much of the non-fictitious plot had survived after the director's cut. 

Rain unlocked the front door and let herself into the house. She put her coat in the closet in the foyer, then went over to the vid-phone on the wall to check the messages. Her father had not been home yet and had said he would call and leave a message if he was going to be home later than expected.

The vid-phone screen blinked and some words scrolled onto the screen.

"You have 2 new messages." The screen read. Rain pushed a button and watched the first message. An image of her aunt Noin appeared on the screen.

"Hey. It's me. I was just calling to tell Rain that she doesn't have to come until 7 instead of 6 to baby-sit tomorrow. Rain, please call Zechs or me whenever you get in to let us know if that's going to be a problem or not. Thanks!" Noin smiled cheerfully before the message ended and the screen temporarily went blank. Rain deleted the first message and played the second.

The second message was from Rain's chorus teacher. He was calling to remind her that her state chorus try-out was the day school got back in from winter break.

Rain decided to call her aunt and uncle Peacecraft and let them know she could still baby-sit for them. Derek had offered to take her there the following day. She and Derek had planned on meeting up with the rest of their friends at GameDance. It was one of the largest arcade and VR facilities in LA. Rain and the others had plans to play laser tag there the following evening. The cost was half price because it was Christmas Eve and not very many people would show up. Derek had offered to leave and come back so he could drop Rain off at her aunt and uncle's house. He would be happy that they could stay the whole time.

Rain's uncle was the one whom answered the vid-phone.

"Hey uncle Mili." Rain smiled.

"Hello Rain. Did you get Noin's message?"

"Yes, I did. I can still baby-sit Luke and Cody for you tomorrow night." Rain answered.

"Are you sure? You won't have any schedule conflicts by coming later?"

"Nope, actually, coming later makes things work out all the better. My friends and I were going to play laser tag before I went over there. Derek offered to leave, then go back to take me to your house. Now, he and I can stay the whole time." Rain explained. Milliardo nodded.

"Ah, well, I'm glad things worked out then. Noin and I will see you tomorrow."

"Alright. See you tomorrow." Rain replied before turning off the vid-phone.

Rain sighed. She hoped taking care of her two younger cousins wouldn't be more exhausting than the laser tag wars she and her friends had. She had been baby-sitting her cousins since she had turned 13 the previous year and was dubbed old enough and mature enough to baby-sit.

Cody and Luke were Rain's only cousins since her father was an orphan and she did not really know her mother's adopted family; the Dorlains. Luke was 6 and Cody was 7. Both were normally pretty hyper, but Rain thought they were adorable and usually well behaved for their age. Rain figured it was because of who their parents were.

Noin and Milliardo had been somewhat older for being the parents of two young children, but like Rain's father, Cody and Luke's parents didn't look a day over 25.

Rain also knew that Milliardo and Noin had had a lot of practice with children before they'd had their own. Noin and Milliardo had baby-sat for Heero after Relena had been kidnapped. Rain thought her uncle Mili and aunt Noin were great parents. She loved them dearly.

After pausing to think for a minute, Rain called Derek to let him know about the schedule change for the following evening. She could not wait until laser tag the next day. Rain, like the rest of the gundam pilots' kids, was a master. They had picked up stealth and sniper tactics from their parents. Each one of them had their own personal strengths in laser tag, just as the former gundam pilots had as soldiers. Laser tag was a fun way to battle out their acquired skills. Rain grinned as she quickly dialed Derek's number.

-End of Chapter 12-

Author's Notes: If any one was wondering what the answer to that math problem Rain did was, it's "x 15.8". I was tutoring my friend Geometry when I got the idea for this chapter. (.) Well, thanks for reading. I know this chapter was kinda short. The next one will be longer. And, I'm sorry I took so long to update. I was waiting for a break to start this. I started it after Thanks Giving, and couldn't really work on it again until after school got back in after winter break and I had some slack time. I'm supposed to be working on homework right now...but, I really wanted to hurry up and update already. So, more soon! Please review! Thanks!  
-AlyRain 


	13. Ch 13

Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

Always There For You Chapter 13:

"Chelsea duck!" Katrina shouted. Chelsea ducked and rolled behind a fake boulder, barely missing a shot fired by Mei Li. 

"Thanks Katrina!" Chelsea said as she returned fire at Mei Li.

"No prob." Katrina replied. She ducked behind the boulder with Chelsea.

"Where are Jack and Jason?" Chelsea asked.

"Last time I saw Jason, he was doing sniper shots around the corner. And Jack...I don't know where he went." Katrina replied.

"OK." Chelsea said with a nod. "Let's go track them down. And keep an eye out for Mei Li. She's been doing really well with that shadowing."

The laser tag game had been going on for a few hours. Both teams were starting to get tired. The score had been even since the first half-hour of the game; 1-1. The only "deaths had been in the first half-hour when Chelsea and Rain had both gone kamikaze and jumped out in the open, sacrificing themselves so their teammates could make a run for it. The teams went as follows: Jack, Chelsea, Jason, and Katrina on one team, and Mei Li, Derek, Rain, and Alisa on the other team.

Both teams had been doing great. They were acting as though they were in an actual battle with real guns. Everyone was having an awesome time.

"Ready? On the count of three we jump out from behind the boulder alright?" Chelsea said.

"Right." Katrina agreed.

"1-2..." Katrina and Chelsea both jumped out on two in order to throw off anyone from the other team if they'd been eavesdropping. Chelsea and Katrina stood back to back, sweeping their laser tag guns around and they waked in a circle.

"No one here. Let's go." Katrina said. Chelsea and Katrina started jogging in the direction they thought they might find Jack and Jason.

-xx-

Chelsea and Katrina found Jason about a minute later having a shoot-out with Alisa and Derek. He seemed to be having trouble keeping the both of them at bay. Katrina and Chelsea rushed in to help Jason out. Mei Li, who had been shadowing them, jumped out from the shadows and joined her teammates.

"Where's Rain?" Derek asked Mei Li. Mei Li had been looking for Rain when she had spotted Chelsea and started shadowing her.

"Never found her. I'm sure she's ok though." Mei Li replied. Derek nodded in agreement.

-xx-

Rain swiveled around. She frowned. She had been positive she had heard someone walking behind her. Turning back, she continued walking.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rain spotted something in the shadows. She fired her laser tag riffle in that direction. Jack came flying outta the shadows, barely missing Rain's shot. He jumped at her, catching her off guard. Both their riffles went skittering away on the ground.

Jack knocked Rain over and pinned her to the ground. Rain struggled to get away from him.

"Na ah ah! You're not getting up!" Jack said with a smile. Rain glared at him.

"Just wait! When I get up, consider your ass kicked!" Rain said.

"Is that so? I think no..." Jack said. He began tickling Rain's sides.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Rain let out a shriek. "No no no! Anything but that! Stop stop stop!" Rain started laughing. She thrashed around in an attempt to throw Jack off of her.

"Aha! I know your weaknesses!" Jack grinned and began tickling Rain again.

"Ack! Stop!" Rain thought quickly of what to do. She let herself go limp, then used all of her stored momentum to knock Jack off of her. Rain jumped to her feet and dashed towards her riffle. Jack, who had recovered quickly, jumped to his feet a split second later and charged after Rain. Rain was just about to swoop down and grab her riffle when Jack caught her around the waist.

Rain giggled. She struggled to get out of Jack's arms as he attempted to tickle her sides. She ended up spinning around and facing him, with her arms around his back and his arms around her waist. They both froze for a split second. She slowly brought her gaze up to Jack's face and their eyes met.

-xx-

Derek, Chelsea, Mei Li, Jason, Alisa, and Katrina all looked in the direction they had heard Rain scream.

"Rain." Derek said quickly. He and the others dashed towards the scream. Derek froze a few feet away from where he spotted Jack and Rain in the dim light of the Laser Tag arena. He stood still, dumbfounded. Chelsea, Mei Li, Katrina, Jason, and Alisa all stopped beside him. They all stared at Jack and Rain. The same thought went through all their minds at the same instant: 'What the...?'

-xx-

Rain's instincts were telling her to lean towards Jack and go with the flow. She felt her heart beating a million miles a minute. Rain started to lean forward. She halted suddenly.

'This isn't right...' Rain brought her gaze down to the ground.

"Are we interrupting something?" Chelsea asked. She had the evilest smirk imaginable on her face. Rain whirled around and faced Chelsea and the others. Rain looked at Derek. She felt a wrenching in her heart. He looked so...hurt. Derek looked down at the ground. Jack let go of Rain and they stepped apart.

"It's nothing." Jack said plainly.

"Well, we came because we heard Rain scream...and here you guys are in each other's arms, in this romantic, dark setting..." Chelsea said, with the same smirk on her face.

"Chelsea, grow up." Jack said, shaking his head in dismay. Chelsea frowned.

"Fine fine fine! I'll stop bugging you. We just wanted to make sure Rain wasn't dying or something." Chelsea said. She looked over at Rain.

"Good to see you're ok."

"Yeah...I'm fine." Rain plastered on a smile. "You're evil brother here was tickling me!" Rain said. She swatted him playfully. Everyone but Derek laughed. Derek looked up and faked a smile.

"Shame on you!" Chelsea said with a smile. Jack grinned sheepishly.

"Hey guys, it's time to go." Alisa said after finding out the time from Katrina.

"K." They all chorused. The group headed for the exit, talking about plans for a future game. They all wanted to break the tie.

-xx-

About ten minutes later, Derek and Rain were in Derek's jeep. They were en route to the Peacecraft home where Rain was supposed to baby-sit her cousins that night. Rain and Derek had not spoken since they'd left GameDance and the silence was driving Rain crazy.

"What's wrong?" Rain finally asked.

"What do you mean?" Derek replied without taking his eyes off the road.

"You haven't said anything since we left GameDance. I want to know what's bugging you." Rain said. Derek didn't respond.

"Does this have anything to do with me and Jack?" Rain asked, as she recalled the hurt look she'd seen on Derek's face. Derek did not respond again.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'..." Rain sighed. "Why?"

Derek really was not sure how to answer that. So, he asked a question himself. "What was really going on?"

"I...don't know. Jack had been tickling me and when I was trying to get away from him we ended up with our arms around each other...and my instincts told me to kiss him. We had a moment. Or I think we did anyway. I don't know...it was so crazy..." Rain trailed off into thought.

"Why didn't you kiss him?" Derek asked. Rain furrowed her brow.

"I'm not sure...I just froze. It didn't feel right-and I still don't get why this bothers you so much." Rain jumped back to her previous thought and gave Derek a suspicious look. He rolled down his window without answering.

"What's the security code?" Derek asked, changing the subject. Rain noticed that they had arrived at the front gate to the Peacecraft mansion.

"7-4-6-2-8" Rain replied. Derek punched the numbed in and rolled his window back up. The gates slid open and Derek drove onward onto the long driveway.

"You never answered my question." Rain said pointedly.

"I... If you did have a moment...and something happens between you two, would you be happy?" Derek asked. He parked the jeep near the large front steps. Rain looked down at her hands, which were clasped together in her lap. Derek turned to look at her.

"Well, I like Jack...and I have for a long time...but...I don't know." Rain said sincerely. They both sat for a moment in silent thought.

"I just want you to be happy." Derek said.

"I will be." Rain smiled at him. Derek nodded he smiled back at her.

"Good. You better go it's almost seven." Derek nodded towards the door to the mansion. Rain nodded.

"Good night." Rain said.

"Good night." Derek replied. Rain opened her door and stepped out. She was about to close the door, but stopped and turned around.

"Hey Derek?"

"Yeah?" Derek asked. Rain leaned over the seat. She hugged Derek tightly and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Thanks for caring."

"Your welcome." Derek hugged her back. They sat like that for a minute, enjoying each other's presence.

Rain slowly pulled away from him and got out of the jeep. She shut the door and smiled at Derek. He smiled back at her. Rain ran up the front steps, stopping at the front door. She turned back and waved to Derek. When he waved back, she turned to the door and rang the doorbell.

Derek waited until Rain had gone into the mansion before he started up the jeep. He drove around the crescent of the driveway, back onto the straight leading toward the front gate.

His smiled as he thought about Rain kissing him on the cheek and their hug. His smile slowly fell as he remembered Rain and Jack in the laser tag arena.

'I'm such an idiot.' Derek thought to himself. 'It's too late now...it's too late and it's too bad. You lost your chance Maxwell.'

"What the hell am I thinking?" Derek asked to himself aloud. 'Rain's just my best friend...right? I'm supposed to be happy for her! What's wrong with me? Why do I care so much?' Derek thought with a sigh. He drove out the gates, onto the street. His mind was jumbled. He turned and drove in the direction of the Wales house instead of towards his own house.

'I need to talk to Jack. I need to find out if he thought they had a moment and lied to Chelsea...if so, I'm gonna help him and Rain get together. She deserves to be happy. I'm ok...I really don't care...Rain's just a good friend. Jack and Rain are my best friends. I should be thrilled if they end up together...So why am I so sad?' 

Derek parked his jeep in the Wales' driveway. He quickly jumped out and walked to the front door. He rang the doorbell and waited impatiently for someone to answer the door.

The door opened and Jack looked out.

"Hey Max! What's up?" Jack said with a warm smile.

"We gotta talk." Derek said. Jack's smile faded slightly when he noticed Derek's serious expression.

"About?"

"Lots." Derek looked at Jack and stressed the importance of his statement with his eyes. Jack stared at Derek quizzically.

"Alright. C'mon in."

-End of Chapter 13-

Author's notes: What did everyone think? It was a bit short, but I had to write something! The next part should be longer...I hope I hope! And I am trying to update once a week from now on. We'll see how that goes, ne? ((o)  
Please review! Arigatou!  
-AlyRain 


	14. Ch 14

Cody-7 Luke-6 For Disclaimer, see Ch. 1.

Always There For You Chapter 14

"Cody! Wait!" Rain shouted. Cody, Rain's seven-year-old cousin was half way up one of the grand staircases in the Peacecraft mansion when Rain had rushed into the foyer. Cody froze and looked down at Rain as she walked to the bottom of the staircase. She had left the boys alone for a brief moment while she was in the bathroom. As soon as she'd come back, she found that the boys had disappeared.

"Where's Luke?" Rain asked, referring to Cody's younger brother.

Rain had been there, baby-sitting for over two hours. Cody and Luke had been pretty well behaved for that duration of time. The only mishaps Rain had dealt with since her aunt and uncle had left was when Luke had spilled a carton of Pine-Orange-Banana juice on the kitchen floor a few minutes before. After Rain had helped him clean it up, there hadn't been any other problems.

Cody pointed up the stairs.

"Luke went to look for a movie." Cody said. Rain nodded. She ran up the stairs and walked to the upstairs den with Cody by her side. Since it was close to nine p.m., Rain planned to let the kids watch a movie in their room.

Rain and Cody walked into the den where they found Luke searching through a collection of movie disks in the cabinet.

"Find one yet?" Rain asked. Luke spun around to look at her.

"Yup!" Luke smiled and held up a disk. He ran over to Rain and handed it to her. She glanced down at the title.

"'The Lion King'..." Rain read. She nodded her approval. In the time of After Colony, Disney Classics were ancient classics, but still popular to most children.

"Alright. Let's go guys." Rain shepherded the two boys out the door and down the hall to their room.

The mansion was definitely big enough for the boys to have their own rooms, but they were still little at ages six and seven, so they shared a room to beat loneliness.

Rain, Cody, and Luke entered the boys' room. It was a large room with two twin-sized beds, a large TV, a walk-in closet, two matching nightstands beside the two beds with lamps on each. The walls were painted a soft blue color with white trim. Rain liked the room; she always found it very cozy.

"K, you guys go get your P. Js and brush your teeth. I'll put the movie in." Rain instructed. The two boys dashed into the walk-in closet to get out their pajamas. Rain walked over to the TV stand and put the movie disk into the slot below the screen.

Cody and Luke walked out of the walk-in closet carrying their pajamas. They walked into the bathroom connected to the far side of the room to change and brush their teeth. When the boys returned, Rain got them tucked in and started the movie. She sat down on a bean bag chair in between the two beds to watch the movie too.

-xx-

About two hours later, the movie had ended. Rain got up from her seat to check on the two boys. Cody and Luke were both fast asleep. She smiled at them.

"G'night Cody, g'night Luke." Rain whispered. Luke and Cody looked a lot like their parents. They had Milliardo's eyes and Noin's hair color. They had their hair cut short, similar to Quatre's styling. 

Rain made sure Cody and Luke's blankets were up high enough, then she went back to her beanbag chair and picked up the TV remote. She decided to watch some late night sitcoms while she waited for Noin and Milliardo to get back from their party. They had said they would return around midnight.

The TV did not really capture Rain's interest. She had too many thoughts bombarding her mind at the time. She was no longer busy watching Luke and Cody, so she was free to think. She thought back to the tickling incident with Jack and their almost "moment".

Rain couldn't get that look on Derek's face out of her mind. She knew how hurt he had been. But she could not really figure out why he had lied about it in the car.

'What am I gonna do?' Rain thought. She really liked Jack; she had had a crush on him since the beginning of the seventh grade. However, Rain had liked Derek since then too.

'Derek's just a friend...right? A friend I've liked since the seventh grade...' Rain let out her breath slowly. 'I like Jack, I really do. And, I like Derek too. But, Derek didn't say anything in the car about why he'd been upset. He tried to cover it up. He-' Rain was suddenly torn from her thoughts as Noin and Milliardo walked into the room.

"Hey Rain. How were they?" Noin asked. Rain smiled at them.

"They were good. We played hide and seek for a while after they ate. Then, they fell asleep watching 'The Lion King'." Rain replied. Noin and Milliardo nodded.

"Good." Noin said.

"How was the party?" Rain asked.

"We had a good time. Thanks for watching the boys for us." Milliardo replied.

"No problem. They're fun." Rain said.

"Well, are you ready to go home?" Milliardo asked, noting the tired expression on Rain's face. Rain nodded. She stood up from the beanbag chair and set the remote on the TV stand before she switched it off. She followed her aunt and uncle out into the hallway.

Noin walked Rain and Milliardo to the garage door. She was going to stay there while Milliardo drove Rain home.

Rain hugged her aunt goodbye and followed Milliardo out to the car.

-xx-  
The following day, Rain got up somewhat late at about 10 a.m. She had not gotten to sleep until about 1 am the previous night. Rain was groggy, but she had things she needed to deal with that day.

Rain had had a pretty restless night. Her dreams had been a rehashing of her emotional confusion from the night before. She decided that she would go to the Wales's house and talk to Jack before the Gundam pilots and their kids all went to the Peacecraft mansion for dinner.

-xx-

Three hours later, at about 1 p.m., Rain was standing on the Wales front porch, reaching for the doorbell. Her father had dropped her off on his way to the Peacecraft mansion. Heero had offered to come early to help cook all the food for dinner that evening. Rain had called the Wales' before she came to make sure Quatre could drive her over there later.

Rain rang the doorbell and waited patiently for someone to answer the door. She leaned against the porch railing while she waited. After a seemingly long time, Ms. Dorothy Wales answered the door.

"Hi, Ms. Wales." Rain greeted. Dorothy smiled at her.

"Hi Rain. Chelsea is not here. She went to the store with Quatre about half an hour ago. She should be back soon though. Jack is still here if you want to hang out with him until she gets back." Dorothy said. Rain nodded and Dorothy let her in.

"He's in his room." Dorothy said, nodding towards the stairs. "Are you hungry? I was just starting a late lunch here."

"A little." Rain replied.

"Ok, well, I should be done in about ten minutes. I will let you guys know when the food is ready." Dorothy said as she disappeared into the kitchen.

Rain walked up the stairs to Jack's room. She knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Jack called. Rain pushed open the door and walked in, closing the door behind herself. Jack looked up from where he was sitting on his bed.

"Rain? Hey, I didn't know you were coming over today." Jack said with a warm smile.

"Neither did I...I called a while ago, and asked if your dad could give me a ride over to Uncle Milli's today. I guess he forgot to tell you I was coming over." Rain said. Jack nodded in agreement.

"What're you up to?" Rain asked.

"Just watching one of those Christmas specials on TV." Jack replied, gesturing towards the TV across the room from his bed.

"Wanna sit down?" Jack asked. Rain walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down, facing Jack.

"Jack, I need to talk to you." Rain began. Jack raised an eyebrow.

"What's up?"

"Well, it's about yesterday..." Rain thought for a moment, trying to decide what to say.

"What about it?" Jack asked. He had a suspicion on what she was talking about. Derek had pretty much interrogated him the previous evening.

"Uhm..." Rain felt very shy at that moment.

"Is it about when we were... I dunno, hugging in the Laser Tag arena?" Jack asked.

"Yeah. I wanted to know... What you were thinking then." Rain said. Jack thought for a moment.

"I was thinking...that we were hugging...and that was good." Jack replied. "What were you thinking?"

"I...Uhm. Well..." Rain fidgeted a bit.

"Well what?"

"I almost kissed you." Rain blurted out. She looked down at her hands, feeling her face flush.

"I see. Well, why didn't you?" Jack asked.

"I-I don't know. I mean, my first instinct was to just lean up and go with the flow..." Rain had stood up and was pacing slightly around the room.

"And?"

"And...I don't know! It just felt...wrong. I guess I worried that you weren't thinking the same thing as me." Rain replied. She looked back at Jack to see what he thought. Jack furrowed his brow.

"So, what if I told you I was thinking the same thing as you? What would you have done?" Jack asked.

"I'm not sure." Rain stopped pacing and looked down at the floor.

"Well, Rain, you felt something. And I did too. So..." Jack trailed off. Rain looked up at Jack.

"So...?" She pressed.

"So. Uhm. Will you go out with me?" Jack asked with a hopeful look. Rain thought for a moment.

"Ok...maybe we can figure out if that was really something, or just...an awkward moment." Rain replied. Jack stood up and walked over to Rain. She smiled at him. He hugged her and grinned.

"Great!"

"Jack! Rain! Lunch is ready!" Dorothy's voice drifted from downstairs.

"Shall we?" Jack asked. Rain nodded. She grabbed his hand and they walked together to the kitchen.

When Rain and Jack arrived in the kitchen, Chelsea and Quatre had just gotten back from the store. Chelsea noted how Jack and Rain were walking hand-in-hand. She gave Rain an "explain later," look. Rain nodded and she and the Wales all sat down at the kitchen table to eat lunch.

-xx-

That evening, Rain, Chelsea, Derek, Jack, Jason, and Mei Li were all sitting in the upstairs den of the Peacecraft mansion watching a recent remake of "A Christmas Carol". Their parents were all in the downstairs den chatting and playing cards. Cody and Luke were in their room with Chon, Sheri and Tristan, Jason and Mei Li's younger siblings. They were all watching the all-time classic "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

Rain, Derek, and Jack were seated on the smaller couch in the upstairs den and Mei Li, Jason, and Chelsea were all seated on the larger couch beside them. They were not paying much attention to "A Christmas Carol". They were more interested in talking. The topic for discussion at that moment was Rain and Jack. The new couple was snuggled together on the couch, and had been a bit too close since they'd first arrived at the Peacecraft mansion. It raised suspicions among the group of teens.

"So? How long have you two been going out?" Mei Li asked.

"Yeah! When? Where? WHY?" Chelsea interjected. Rain and Jack both laughed nervously.

"Since today. This afternoon actually. And...because...we like each other, why else?" Jack said with a shrug. He seemed considerably calm. Rain on the other hand, was freaking out. Jack was her first real boyfriend. They had only been going out for a few hours and Chelsea had already started leading the group with a bombardment of questions.

Derek watched the whole thing with interest. He noticed how freaked Rain was getting. Jack seemed to be getting on the annoyed side too.

"Chelsea, leave them alone." Derek said simply. Chelsea turned to look at Derek, who was slouching on the other side of the couch, on Jack's left.

"What do you mean?" Chelsea asked. Derek sighed.

"Look, I know you're curious," Derek began, "but, can't you see how uncomfortable you're making them?" He sat up straighter and gestured towards Jack and Rain who were giving him smiles of gratitude.

"Oh... Sorry guys." Chelsea grinned sheepishly and looked down at the floor.

"Maybe we should all attempt to pay attention to the movie for a while." Jason said, speaking up for the first time since they had entered the den. The group all agreed and settled back into their seats. Jack wrapped his arm around Rain's shoulders and she snuggled up next to him. They shared a smile before they both looked back at the TV screen.

-xx-

About half an hour later, Derek stood up and walked towards the door.

"Where you going, Derek?" Rain asked.

"Just gonna get something to drink." Derek replied, smiling at her. Rain frowned, seeing through his false smile. She became curious. Rain did not voice her concern as Derek walked out the door.

Rain began to worry about Derek more and more as the minutes ticked by. She pulled away from Jack and stood up.

"Where're you going?" Jack asked.

I'm thirsty. Gonna go downstairs and get a drink." Rain replied. Jack nodded.

"Want me to go with you?" Jack asked. Rain shook her head.

"No, I'm ok. I'll just be gone a sec. You want anything?"

"No thanks, I'm ok." Jack said. Rain glanced at the other couch.

"Jason, Mei Li, Chelsea, you want anything?" Rain asked. They all said no, so Rain walked out without another word.

-xx-

Once downstairs, Rain went to the kitchen to see if Derek had really gone for drinks. She did not find him there, so she decided to go look for him.

Rain wandered around the first floor of the Peacecraft mansion without any success of finding Derek. She was just about to give up all together when she spotted him through the front window. Rain walked out the door and closed it softly behind herself.

Derek was sitting on the top step on the large, marble front porch. Rain walked quietly over to him and sat down beside him. He did not turn towards her.

"I know why you're upset..." Rain said after a while. She looked down at the ground rather than facing him. Derek looked up. His face held surprise.

"Really? And why's that?" Derek let out a forced laugh, as though it were a painful joke.

"You're upset that I'm going out with Jack...you're jealous." Rain stated. Derek went back to staring at the steps below himself.

"What makes you think that?"

"Because, you're my best friend...I can read you well. And I can see in your eyes...you're hurt." Rain said quietly. "Why did you lie to me?" 

"I just want you to be happy...that's why I lied." Derek answered after a long pause. Rain chewed on her bottom lip.

"I can't be happy, knowing you're upset." Rain looked over at Derek. He looked up and met her gaze briefly before he looked away again.

"I know you really like Jack. You wouldn't be going out with him if you didn't. And...you wouldn't have..." Derek trailed off.

"Wouldn't have what?" Rain pressed.

"Well...you two seemed on the verge of kissing when we all interrupted..." Derek answered.

"It's true, I really like Jack...and I still wonder what would have happened if you guys hadn't shown up... but I saw that look in your eyes...You were so hurt. At first I couldn't understand why...but then I realized...that you care about me too." Rain said. She stood up and moved down a step so that she could kneel in front of Derek and see his face.

Derek looked like he was on the verge of tears. Rain did not think he would ever let those tears spill, but the lost, pained look burned into her heart. Rain wrapped her arms around Derek and snuggled against him.

Derek was surprised by her action. He could not think of anything more to do other than put his arms around her and hold her close. His mind was a strange wash of emotions. He could not decide what to do about anything anymore. On one hand, he really wanted Rain and Jack to be happy, but on the other hand he knew that his pain was hurting Rain. Derek also knew that he could not hide his true feelings form Rain. The confusion was getting to him. His body shook slightly as he drew in a sharp breath.

Rain pulled back and held Derek's hands between her own. She looked up at him from her kneeling position on the step below him.

"Look, tonight, I'm doing a lot of thinking. I can't make decisions right now...too many thoughts are in my head at once...but, everything will be ok. I promise." Rain said. She brushed Derek's bangs out of his eyes.

Derek nodded in agreement. He still seemed upset and confused, but, he felt a bit better knowing Rain understood his current mental situation.

"Yeah...we should get back inside. I'm sure the others have decided we've been kidnapped by now. And, it's freezing out here." Derek said. He stood up and pulled Rain to her feet too.

The pair silently slipped back in the house. Neither of them spoke a word of their conversation on the porch the rest of the evening. When they'd gotten back to the upstairs den, Jack inquired as to where they went. Rain stretched the truth a little and said that they had spent a long time searching for the mint chocolates that her aunt and uncle always had in stock that time of year. They really had gotten some of the chocolate mints after they came back inside, but it had only taken a matter of seconds.

The group of teens all seemed to buy Rain's story. Although, Chelsea made a mental note to ask why Derek and Rain seemed so distant and so out of whack.

-End Of Chapter 14-

Hey Mina-san! Gomen nasai for taking so extremely long to update! I went through a long period of laziness, writer's block, and more laziness. I hope you liked the chapter. Please review! Reviews fuel the inspiration!

-AlyRain 


	15. Ch 15

For disclaimer, see Chapter 1!

Always There For You Chapter 15:

January 2nd, A.C. 215. Rain Yuy was pacing in her living room. Jack was supposed to arrive at her house at any moment. He had said he needed to talk to her about something important. It had been over a week since the Christmas party at the Peacecraft mansion. Rain wondered if Derek had told Jack about his conversation with Rain on the porch that night.

"Rain, I'm leaving now." Heero called on his way out the door to the garage.

"OK! Bye!" Rain called back. She listened as the door closed before she resumed her nervous pacing.

With a sigh of annoyance, Rain flopped down onto the couch. She glanced anxiously at the clock on the stereo receiver, wondering where Jack was.

The doorbell rang. Rain flew from her seat and sprinted to the front door. Pausing briefly to shake back her nervousness, Rain pulled the door open.

Jack stood on the front porch with his hands shoved into the front pocket of his maroon colored hoodie. He was frowning down at the ground.

"Hi." Rain managed to say quietly. Jack glanced up briefly to acknowledge her greeting.

"Can I come in?" He looked up again.

"Sure." Rain stepped aside, allowing Jack to enter. She shut the door behind him and the two walked into the living room in silence.

Jack sat down on the couch and Rain followed suit. In a very nervous fashion, Jack stared down at his feet. That confused Rain. She did not think Jack had anything to be nervous about.

"So...What did you want to talk to me about?" Rain finally asked, breaking the awkward silence. Jack glanced at Rain briefly, then averted his gaze back to the carpeted floor.

"Well...Uh...You know how I went to that New Years party with some of my classmates?" Jack began.

"Yeah..." Rain wondered what that statement was leading to. Her mind traveled a million miles a minute. The first thought that came to her mind was that Jack had asked someone else out.

"Well...I...I kissed Becky." Jack blurted. Rain's mind reeled. She had not been expecting that one.

Becky was an annoying girl who followed Rain around at school. Her older sister had been hosting the New Year's party Jack had attended. Becky was in Rain's English class and Rain always tried her best to avoid her.

"I understand if you're mad at me... And I understand if you don't want to go out with me anymore..." Jack said, looking at Rain when she had not responded.

"I'm not mad...I'm just disappointed in you. I mean, I thought you were better than that..." Rain said with a deep frown. Jack sighed audibly.

"I know. And, I feel guilty as all hell about it. But, if it makes you feel any better, she and I decided not to get together."

"I just...I can't believe it! I mean, it's BECKY! Of all damned people!"

"Yeah..." Jack said.

"I don't think we should go out anymore." Rain stated.

"OK..." Jack nodded slowly. Rain's frown deepened when she saw his expression. It was both guilty and sad.

The silence that followed killed Rain. She needed to be away from Jack and she needed to be alone with her thoughts.

"I think I should go now." Jack said while standing. Rain nodded mutely. Jack left the room without uttering another word.

At the sound of the door shutting, Rain lay down and curled up on the couch. She drew in shaky breaths as she fought back tears of confusion and frustration.

'I shouldn't be so upset...I mean, I knew I would have to break up with Jack anyway. It was unfair of me to continue dating him when I like Derek so much... But, that still doesn't change the fact that he kissed Becky...While dating me. I didn't go around kissing other guys!' Rain thought. She punched the small throw pillow she was laying on.

'How could he? I thought Jack was so much better than that. He's not the type of person to go kissing other girls while still dating one. And, the fact that they even TALKED about hooking up? What was he thinking?' Rolling over onto her back, Rain studied the ceiling fan that was turned off. She wiped away a few stray droplets of tears.

"I need to talk to someone. Really bad..." Rain said aloud. She stood from her seat on the couch and walked to the vid-phone in the foyer. Wiping the last few traces of tears, Rain punched in the number for Heero's office.

Heero had had to pick up a few files off his computer at work. He needed his latest case files from the Preventers HQ in order to stay home for the weekend and work at his home office. Rain recalled that Heero had said he would only be gone for about an hour. He figured it would not take a very long time to organize all the information he needed to bring back.

An image of Heero Yuy came onto the screen. He smiled warmly when he saw it was his daughter calling.

"Hey Rain." Heero said, turning away briefly to rummage through the stack of papers in front of himself.

"Hi Daddy. Is it OK if Chelsea stays the night tonight?" Rain asked. Heero responded without looking up.

"Of course. You know Chelsea's always welcome to come over. But, thank you for asking just the same."

"Sure..." Rain replied. Heero finally looked back up at the screen.

"Is something wrong?" Rain's father noticed that her eyes looked a little red.

"I...It's just some girl stuff. That's why I wanted to invite Chelsea over." Rain threw in a shy smile to throw off her father's suspicions. Heero chuckled lightly; showing that Rain's false smile had worked.

"All right. Well, go ahead and invite Chelsea over. I should be done here in a few minutes. I can pick Chelsea up on my way home if she wants." Heero went back to digging through the pile of papers.

"I will have to call her and find out." Rain replied.

"OK, that's fine. Call me back as soon as you find out." Heero replied, glancing back at the screen. "Oh, and order some pizza too. I think it's been a while since we've had any. There should be some cash on my dresser if it gets there before I do."

"All right. I will call back in a couple minutes then. Bye." Rain said.

"Bye." Heero responded. Rain cut the connection. She glanced at the blank vid-phone screen for a second before rapidly dialing Chelsea's number without thinking.

'Sheesh. I thought I was going to have to tell him about the whole Jack problem...' Rain thought with a mental sigh of relief.

Mrs. Dorothy Catolonia Wales appeared on Rain's vid-phone screen.

"Hi Ms. Wales. Is Chelsea around?" Rain asked, smiling politely.

"Oh. Hello Rain. Yes. Chelsea is in the other room. Wait just a moment please." Dorothy stepped off screen and Chelsea appeared in her place seconds later.

"Hey Rain, what's up?" Chelsea asked with a warm smile.

"Hey Chels. I wanted to know if you can come over and stay the night tonight." Rain said with a hint of urgency on her face. Chelsea quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Lemme ask real quick." Chelsea said, turning to her left. Rain could hear Chelsea speaking with her mother off screen.

"Mom. Can I go stay the night at Rain's tonight?" Chelsea asked.

"I don't see why not. Jack's staying the night at Derek's house tonight. It will give your father and I some alone time for a change." Dorothy replied. Chelsea giggled.

"Great." Chelsea turned back to the screen. "My mom says it's fine. When do you want me over?" Chelsea asked.

"Well, my dad's leaving work soon. He said he could pick you up on his way home." Rain said. Chelsea nodded slowly.

"OK, I will just go throw some stuff in my pack then."

"OK. I will see you in a little bit then. My dad should be there in about 15 minutes I think." Rain said.

"Right. See you soon!" Chelsea smiled and waved before disconnecting the line. Sighing quietly, Rain dialed her father's office number again.

"Hey Daddy." Rain greeted, forcing a smile when she saw her father's face appear. Heero was busily putting some files and disks into the open briefcase on his desk.

"Hey Rain. What did Chelsea say?"

"She said she would be ready by the time you would get to her house."

"OK. I am on my way out the door right now. I will see you when I get home."

"K. Thanks in advance for picking Chelsea up." Rain said. Heero smiled at his daughter's image.

"You're welcome Sweety."

"Bye." Rain smiled back.

"Bye." At her father's good-bye, Rain cut the connection.

Sighing for the umpteenth time that day, Rain pulled up an electronic phone book on the screen and dialed the number for a nearby pizza delivery place.

-xx-

It was 9:00 pm. Rain and Chelsea were seated on the soft carpeted floor of Rain's room after changing into their pajamas. By the time Chelsea and Heero had arrived, the pizza had shown up and so Rain and Chelsea did not have time to talk. Then, after dinner, Heero had convinced the two to watch a live comedy special that was on TV.

Rain decided that Heero had not really bought her story of simple girl problems and had been trying to make her feel better by offering the distraction of pizza and quality comedy shows. The distraction had been nice, but Rain was grateful to finally have time to talk to Chelsea. Heero had finally retired to his room, having said that he wanted to get up early to work on his Preventers case files in the morning.

"OK, so, what's wrong? I know something's been bugging you since you called me this afternoon." Chelsea stated, breaking the ice.

"Oh. It was sooo bad! I couldn't believe it! I mean, UGH!" Rain said, losing her clarity while remembering that day's earlier events.

"Who did what? Derek?" Chelsea asked. Her face clearly showed her confusion.

"No, not Derek...Jack." Rain began. She started to feel awkward. Chelsea was Jack's sister. Rain was unsure how Chelsea would react to finding out what Jack had done.

"What did he do?" Chelsea was very curious.

"He kissed Becky!" Rain blurted out.

"He WHAT?" Chelsea exclaimed. She looked very surprised by that.

"Yeah, he kissed Becky at that New Year's party he went to the other day." Rain explained.

"I...I can't believe Jack would do something like that. I mean, he's not the type to go kissing other girls while he's dating another one." Chelsea said thoughtfully.

"I know. I couldn't understand it either. And with Becky of all people...And that's not even all. They actually discussed hooking up! I couldn't believe they actually considered it!" Rain said in frustrated rush.

"Wow...that's so unlike Jack..." Chelsea frowned.

"I know. I told him I was more disappointed in him than mad at him. He asked if I thought it would be better if we stopped going out..."

"What did you tell him?"

"I said I didn't think it was a good idea for us to go out. So...I guess now we're broken up." Rain replied. Chelsea let out her breath in three quick puffs of air, a thoughtful gesture.

"Well, I blame Becky. She's a bad influence on people." Chelsea said with a grin. Rain laughed at Chelsea's honesty.

"Yeah...but she can't take all the blame. It takes two to tango." Rain said.

"I will be having a nice long talk with him tomorrow." Chelsea nodded to emphasize her decision. Rain winced at her words.

"Please don't. I know it seems that he deserves it...But, I don't want you to get directly involved." Rain said.

"OK, fine. You ruin all my fun." Chelsea said with another grin.

"Thanks." Rain smiled gratefully. Chelsea shrugged.

"So, now that you're single, does that mean you're gonna go after Derek now." Chelsea quirked an eyebrow and smirked.

"Chelsea!" Rain whacked her with a pillow.

"What? Don't deny that you like him! And you never did tell me what was up with you two at the Christmas party!" Chelsea whined.

"I'm not denying anything...it's just...God, how terrible of a person would I be to move on that quickly?" Rain asked. She stood up and walked over to the window seat. Sitting down, Rain looked out the window at the dimly lit street below.

"How terrible? You weren't the one kissing someone else." Chelsea said pointedly. She sat down beside Rain.

"I know...but... I liked Jack a lot. I can't forget him as easily as one might think." Rain said, turning to look at Chelsea.

"I know you did." Chelsea gave Rain a light hug.

"And I had high hopes for you guys. I had my heart set on us becoming sisters." Chelsea added, her grin returning.

"How can you make a joke out of everything today?" Rain said with a laugh.

"I'm not. I was serious. You just keep taking everything in a humorous way." Chelsea smirked.

"Sure. Blame me." Rain rolled her eyes.

"Hey. You never did answer my question about Derek." Chelsea said, wagging a finger at Rain.

"Which one?"

"The one about the Christmas party. Every time I bring it up, you change the subject."

"Oh...that." Rain looked down at her hands, smiling shyly.

"Yeah that. So, tell me what happened." Chelsea said, her expression turning serious.

"Well. I went looking for Derek after he'd 'gone for drinks' and hadn't come back. I was worried because he'd seemed outta it all night." Rain said.

"Did you have any ideas why he was so out there?" Chelsea asked. She laid down on her stomach on the floor, propping herself up with the pillow Rain had hit her with earlier.

"Yeah. I figured it was because of me and Jack." Rain replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, remember at GameDance how everyone showed up where me and Jack were...?"

"You mean when you almost kissed him..." Chelsea smirked, remembering Rain's retelling of those events the following evening.

"Yah. Well, Derek drove me over to my uncle's house afterwards right?"

"Uh huh." Chelsea nodded.

"Ever since you guys had shown up, Derek acted all weird. I could have sworn he looked hurt. So, I asked him in the car. He wanted to know what happened with me and Jack. So, I told him all I told you."

"Yeah..." Chelsea pressed.

"He asked me if being with Jack would make me happy. And, I think I told him yes. It was so weird the way he said it though..." Rain momentarily got lost in her thoughts. "Anyway...I asked him why he'd seemed upset, but he never answered me. I didn't get to talk to him about it again until that night at the party.

I found Derek sitting on the porch. And, I finally got him to fess up about everything. He was jealous of me and Jack... But, he said he'd lied because he wanted me to be happy. So, then I realized that Derek really did care about me too. And, I felt so guilty. He was so hurt...Ugh...if you could've seen that look in his eyes." Rain frowned sadly.

"So...he was jealous of you and Jack...and that's all that you two talked about?" Chelsea asked.

"Well, yeah, I guess so. I told him I had too much to think about and I told him I would think about things and everything would be OK." Rain replied.

"'Everything would be OK'? What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm not really sure." Rain chuckled slightly. "I guess I meant that I would do something to make sure everyone was happy..."

"Like what?" Chelsea prompted.

"Well, in all honesty, I considered breaking up with Jack...I really liked him, but I couldn't stand hurting Derek. Derek's...special. I dunno what it is. He and I were best friends when we were just little kids. Sometimes I feel like that never changed..." Rain trailed off. She half expected Chelsea to think she was mean by plotting to break up with Jack.

"Wow...you've had a rough couple weeks." Chelsea said.

"Yeah...self-guilt trips galore." Rain sighed.

"Well, here's where I falter as a friend; I dunno what to tell you. I would tell you to trust your gut, but you don't know either...so..." Chelsea frowned.

"Don't worry about it. Time will tell. I'm just glad to have you to talk to about all this crap." Rain smiled.

"Hey, no problem. At least I can be of some use!" Chelsea beamed. Rain yawned.

"My thoughts exactly." Chelsea grinned. They both laughed.

"Sleep would be good. It's already 11:30. And, we have our first city chorus practice tomorrow afternoon." Rain said, holding back another yawn.

"True true." Chelsea yawned. The two girls took turns in the bathroom before they climbed into Rain's double bed and crawled under the covers. Chelsea switched off the lamp since it was on her side.

"Night Rain."

"Night Chels."

"Hey Rain?" Chelsea whispered.

"Yeah?"

"What do you think of Miles Ferrero?"

"He seemed nice. Why? Is that your crush of the century?" Rain smiled in the darkness.

"Yeah. He's so sweet!" Chelsea said with an excited tone.

For the following two hours, the two friends talked in the dark. They were both strong believers that there is just something about lying in the dark that inspires bonding conversations. A/N: I swear it's true!

-xx-

April 15th, A.C. 215.

It had been several months since Rain and Jack's break up. The two had remained friends and after a short time they'd beaten the weirdness factor. Rain still was unsure how she felt about Jack and Derek. However, she had not been forced to face those issues in all that time.

That day was the first day of spring break. Rain had just returned from a day of roller-blading with all her friends. Their little group had gone skating from park to park all around the outskirts of the city before finally ending up at the boardwalk to get some late lunch-early dinner. The weather was warm and the sky was cloudless. It was a perfect day to spend outdoors.

Rain had just stepped into her house when she noticed the blinking light on the vid-phone. She frowned at the vid-phone, wondering what memo her father had left. She hit the button to listen to the memo while she pulled her sneakers off and set her roller blades down by the door.

"Rain, I needed to go down to the clinic where Mommy was. They said it was important so I had to leave right away. I should be back not too long after you get this message. If you need me, call my cell phone." The message ended. Rain frowned more. She wondered what was wrong with her mother.

Shrugging it off, Rain walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. She figured that if it had been something bad, her father would have called to let her know.

Laying down on the couch, Rain yawned. She was very tired from skating all day. She figured she would simply take a nap until her father got home.

-xx-

"Rain I'm home!" Heero called from the foyer. "Rain where are you?"

Rain blinked her eyes open. She glanced at the clock, wondering how long she'd been sleeping. Heero ran upstairs, curious as to where Rain was.

The sleepy teen heard her father going upstairs. She dragged herself to her feet and walked groggily out to the foyer, rubbing her eyes.

"Hi. I was in the living room taking a nap." Rain called back. She lowered her hands from her face and gasped at the sight before her. There was a young woman standing in the foyer, looking up the stairs at Heero as he ran back down. She did not seem to notice Rain standing in the living room doorway.

The young woman finally turned to acknowledge Rain's presence.

"Hi Sweety." The young woman's smile reached her deep blue eyes as she spoke to Rain.

Rain felt her heart beating far too fast. The honey-brown hair, the soft blue eyes, the silky voice; all of it was too hauntingly familiar.

"Mommy..." Rain whispered. Her mind reeled, her vision spun wildly, then all went black as she fell to the carpeted floor with a dull thud.

To be continued...

-End Of Chapter 15-

Author's Notes:

Hey Minna-san! Gomen nasai! I did not mean to take so long to update. I had most of this chapter done in June. I stayed up until 4 am when I had to get up early the next day. Sadly, my beloved chapter that I lost sleep over got deleted. Grrr!

I spent the past couple days at home sick. I had lots of time to plot for this chapter. I hope it turned out all right. I have been mindlessly typing while listening to Bush for the past three hours or so. Hehe.

I am trying to write most of this story by hand during my math class. It is an easy class that doesn't require all my attention. I found that writing something else really helps me focus...or at least stay awake. Stupid trigonometry...

Anywayz, so, I will try to work on the next chapter during math class. School's starting into the second month here. I will try to update as soon as possible. But, with homework, projects, and such, I am not sure how fast I can get chapters up.

What all this babbling means is that, I am sick, my brain's not going too well...very numb...and, sorry once again for taking forever to update. Please review! It means SO much to me!

Arigatou gozaimasu my faithful readers!

-AlyRain 


	16. Ch 16

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing! Sheesh! Quit bugging me about it! pouts

Always There for You Chapter 16:

"No...asleep...I'm not sure how...whe-...need to ask..."

Rain forced open heavy eyelids. Her vision was a dull gray color. She blinked a few times to clear it. When the teen had her eyes focused again, she realized she was staring at the back of the couch.

'I'm on the couch...people talk too loud...woke me up...' Rain's mind complained groggily. She could hear people talking but could not decipher who was who.

Closing her eyes again, Rain pushed herself up into a sitting position. There was a slight dip as someone sat down beside her.

"Rain? Are you OK?" A worried Heero leaned towards his daughter.

"I feel...like...I've been hit by a truck..." Rain said softly.

"Well, you hit the floor pretty hard. I hope you didn't hurt your head too much." Heero touched the back of Rain's head gingerly.

"Fell...? What...?" Rain opened her eyes again and studied Heero's face as best she could with her blurring vision.

"She's awake!" Heero turned to yell over his shoulder. Shuddering slightly at the volume of his words, Rain tried to make out the blurry figure walking into the living room from the kitchen.

The blurred person sat near Rain's feet, laying a gentle hand on her ankle.

"Rain, Sweety, are you all right?" The feminine voice asked.

"I-I can't...see." Rain said, shaking her head slowly and blinking her eyes several times. "Why can't I see straight?"

"I think she has a concussion...there's a big welt on the back of her head." Heero said, dropping his hand from Rain's head.

"We need to take her to the doctor right now then." The woman at Rain's feet said. The couch moved slightly as the woman stood up.

"Wait..." Rain reached blindly and put her hand on the woman's arm. "Wait...who are you? Your voice...I..."

"It's OK..." The female said softly, gently patting Rain's hand on her right arm.

"Why...? Why can't I see...Why can't I remem-" Rain stopped speaking and shuddered again as pain rippled through her body, stemming from her head. The young teen began to whimper as tears slid from her closed lids.

Without a word, Heero slowly scooped Rain up into his arms and abruptly walked out the garage door. The girl barely had time to react as more pain started coursing through her body from the sudden movement. She buried her face in her father's chest and tried to clench her teeth to hold back cries of pain. The strain only worsened the pain in her head, causing her jaw to tremble and her teeth to chatter.

The young woman who Rain had not been able to remember opened the back door to Heero's car. Heero gently laid Rain down in the back seat before shutting the door and getting into the driver's seat.

Everything was a total blur of action to Rain. Her brain was processing things nearly a minute after they happened. The car was already on the road before Rain realized she'd heard the sound of the car doors slamming shut.

"Loud..." Rain mumbled before pain shot through her head and everything went black.

-xx-

Groaning softly, Rain opened her eyes. Everything was an endless ocean of black. She heard heavy breathing to her left. Turning her head subconsciously to look for the source, she listened more carefully.

"Damnit." Rain muttered quietly. 'Why can't I see anything?' Her mind inquired.

A rustling sound informed Rain that the person beside her was moving. Chewing on her lip, Rain waited anxiously for the unknown person to speak.

"Rain? You're awake!" A cheerful voice exclaimed.

Rain's breath caught in her throat as she was suddenly wrapped up in a hug.

"Uncle Duo..." Before she could beg for the braided man to loosen up his grip enough for her to breath, he was gone. Titling her head slightly, she heard him run for the door and fling it open.

"She's awake!" Duo yelled down the hallway.

The young Yuy girl was very confused, but she still found Duo's antics very amusing and smiled lightly.

There was a clatter of different footsteps, then Rain felt people surrounding her. Frustration bubbled up inside of her when she realized she still could not see anything.

"What's going on? I wake up and hear someone sleeping off to my left and then Duo nearly kills me hugging me, then...the next thing I know...he's yelling that I'm awake." Rain asked the crowd before her.

"You fell asleep?" Heero asked. Rain smiled slightly. She could picture the looks on both of their faces at that moment.

"What? I was up all night last night and then took over for you this morning!" Duo exclaimed in self-defense.

"If you were tired, you should have asked someone else to take over for him." Hilde scolded.

"Well-" Duo was cut off as Heero, Hilde, and Quatre continued lecturing him. Rain just smirked and listened with mild amusement.

"Hey...uhm...I still want to know what's going on." Rain finally spoke up. The adults continued to argue without acknowledging her.

"You had a concussion." Came an emotionless reply.

"Huh?" Rain asked. Trowa stood beside Rain's bed and began explaining while the other adults continued to argue.

"You passed out when you saw your mother...you fell and hit your head. It made the head injury you got from the rescue mission flare up again." Trowa explained. Rain remained silent as her memory began to come back. She recalled seeing her mother when she'd gone in search of her father after waking from a nap.

"So where is she now...?" Rain asked.

"She is in Milliardo's office right now. She doesn't know you're awake yet. Or else I'm sure she'd be here."

"Where am I right now?"

"You're in the medical ward of the Preventors Headquarters building."

"How long have I been here?"

"Three days." Trowa replied.

"Why can't I see?" Rain asked. The other three adults had fallen silent.

"As I explained earlier, your latest head injury brought up problems from the last one. You had some nerve damage...nerves connecting your eyes and your brain. The doctors had to perform some surgery in an attempt to repair them...It will be about a few days before they can tell if it worked or not." Trowa said.

"So...it may not have worked at all?" Rain asked quietly.

"We won't know for a few days." Heero answered Rain's question.

"What are the chances?"

"The doctor's said it's about 80 percent probability...that you will only see in black and white...and about 65 percent that you will not be able to see at all." Heero answered truthfully. The teen nodded slowly, accepting the information, but not really wanting to.

"When can I go home?"

"Tonight." Heero said. The girl nodded once, then turned her head towards the door as she heard someone approach.

"Who's that?" Rain asked when no one said anything.

"It's Relena." Duo answered.

Rain heard Relena walk closer to her bed without speaking. The young woman sat on the edge of the bed and laid one hand on top of Rain's.

"We'll leave you two alone for a bit. You should use the time before you go home to catch up a little." Hilde said.

Without any more conversation, Rain heard the other four adults leave the room and close the door. Neither she nor her mother spoke for several minutes.

"I...I want you to know that...I'm sorry." Relena said softly.

"For what?"

"For not being around while you grew up." Relena said with sadness in her voice. "And...for not recognizing you when you came to rescue me..." By Relena's tone, Rain could sense she was on the verge of tears.

"I'm sorry I almost killed you." Rain replied.

"It's all right. You saved your father's life...And, in the end, you saved mine. If I hadn't been stopped...I would have killed him and...I never would have been taken in to recover and remember..." Relena trailed off.

"I should have gone to see you at the clinic." Rain hung her head as guilt twisted her stomach into a knot.

"Don't feel bad. I understand why you didn't...you were afraid that I would not recognize you...and you felt guilty for having shot me right?"

Rain shook her head. "I was afraid if I saw you...I would watch as you were taken away again. I had already lost you two times..." Rain could feel her eyes brimming with tears as she replayed her mother's "death" in her mind.

"I'm not going anywhere this time. You will never lose me again." Relena said softly. She hugged Rain to her very gently.

Relena was a bit hurt when Rain did not respond, but her mind reasoned that Rain was just soaking up too much at one time. The dark-haired teen did not move. The hug felt alien. As much as Rain had dreamed about being reunited with her mother, it did not feel right. Rain was at a loss for understanding.

"You must be a little overwhelmed... I will leave you alone for a while." Relena said as she stood from Rain's bed. The young woman wordlessly left the door, leaving Rain in bitter dark and silence.

"Why...why is it that I feel like you are still gone?" Rain whispered. She laid down, buried her face in her pillow, and cried quietly.

-xx-

April 23rd, A.C. 215.

Four days had passed since Rain had woken up in the medical ward of the Preventors HQ building. The young girl sat staring out her bedroom window. Her vision had started to come back. However, all she could see was shadows and silhouettes.

A knock sounded from across the room at Rain's door. The girl looked over and watched as a shadowy figure slowly walked in the room.

"Hey Rain." Derek said, sitting beside her.

"Hey." Was Rain's only reply.

"What are you looking at?"

"The trees...I remember they were blooming before...I cant see them though, can barely make out the shape of the branches." Rain said, feeling detached.

"Oh...And how are things going with your mom?"

"They're...going." Rain replied. Her gaze shifted away from the window and to Derek. She wished very badly that she could see his face.

"How so?" Derek chuckled at Rain's vagueness.

"It isn't how I thought it would be." Rain sighed.

"What do you mean?" Derek's voice held concern.

"I don't know...I guess. I just expected her to come back and everything would be great, but..."

"But...?" Derek pressed.

"But I don't know her...I never got a chance to get to know her. She was kidnapped when I was two. I grew up without her and now...it's so hard to bring her back in and fill the gaps."

"Hey, don't stress. It will take time to make things work again. You're right, you don't really know her. And, it will take a long time to get to know her. I'm sure that after a while though, you'll be a family again. You just need to get used to the fact that she's back. I think your mind is still in shock." Derek put an arm around Rain and gave her a light squeeze.

"Maybe you're right, I probably am just having trouble accepting the fact that she's really back..." Rain said, considering Derek's words.

"Maybe all you need is for your mind to accept it, and then your heart can fill in the gaps." Derek said with a shrug.

"Why do you always have good advice? I can't remember when you got to be so wise." Rain smiled softly at him.

"Not sure really." Derek smirked.

"Well...Thanks. You're the first person I've been able to talk to about this."

"It's what I'm here for Rain."

"I'm glad." Rain leaned against Derek and continued to think silently.

-xx-

June 15th, A.C. 216

It was the last day of exams at Rain's junior high. The teenage girl was sitting at her desk, playing tic-tac- toe with Samantha, the girl who sat behind her, while they awaited the bell, signaling that school would be over for the summer.

All of the students in the 6th period honors Chemistry class had already finished their exams and were allowed to do anything they wanted as long as it was quiet. Rain and her classmate had been bored, but lacked the mental power to do much more than play tic-tac-toe. The exam had turned their brain's into mush.

"Man!" Rain hissed as she lost the fourth game in a row.

"You may all talk now if you want. There's about five minutes before the bell rings." The chemistry teacher, Mr. Donner, announced.

"Yay!" Rain said with bubbling excitement. It was the last day of school, and her last day of junior high. That fall, Rain and her friends would move up to the high school where Jack and Derek had been attending for the previous two years.

Like the rest of her friends, Rain was beyond excitement. She could not wait to start high school. It not only meant that she had three years left of school before college, but it also meant she would get to see Derek and Jack more often.

The bell rang and Rain sprang from her seat. With one swoop, she picked her backpack up and had the straps over her shoulders.

"Have a good summer everyone. And good luck in high school!" Mr. Donner called as the students bustled towards the door.

"Have a great summer Sam!" Rain said as she ran out the door in search of her friends.

On that day, it had been a year and a little over a month since rain had been reunited with her mother. Things had finally started to feel normal. Two weeks after Rain had returned home, her vision had been fully restored. Rain had been very grateful. After the first week of only seeing shadows, Rain had worried she would never regain all of her vision.

The relationship between Rain and Relena had improved quite a bit. They were not as close as they could have been, but Rain no longer felt as though Relena were a total stranger. Rain had finally been able to accept the fact that her mother was alive, and a part of her family.

"Rain!" Chelsea waved from where she stood by a tree in the front courtyard.

"Hey Chels!" Rain called back as she jogged over to her friends.

"It's over! Goodbye junior high!" Katrina said as she waved at the building behind them. The small circle of friends laughed.

"We still on for GameDance tonight?" Alisa asked the group of females.

"Yep, 7 p.m." Chelsea answered.

"Cool."

"I have a score to settle." Rain said, referring to the previous laser tag game where Chelsea had killed her in the last thirty seconds of the game the week before.

-xx-

At ten p.m., Rain collapsed against her pillow. She had gotten home half an hour earlier after a vicious, but exciting game of laser tag at GameDance. Rain was worn out from a week of exams and a hard game of laser tag.

In the end of the game, it had been a tie. Rain had gotten Chelsea back for beating her the week before. Another game had been set for the following day to try to break the tie.

Glancing at the clock, Rain sighed. She had planned to stay awake until her parents returned home. Her parents were supposed to return around midnight. They had been away on a business trip for the Preventors. Rain was not worried about being home alone. Her parents would be back an hour after she got home. The young girl fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

-xx-

With a start, rain jerked awake. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the new amount of light while she scanned her room for the source of the crash.

The bedroom window had been smashed. Bits of glass lay on the floor, glittering from the reflected light of the street lamps outside. There was a large rock with a note attached to it lying among the broken glass. The young girl felt her heart thundering in her chest as she walked over to the rock.

Standing far enough back to avoid stepping on the glass, Rain leaned forward and picked up the rock. With swiftness Rain did not know she had, she was back on her bed, clutching the rock in one hand. There was a squeal of tires and Rain could see the reflection of headlights as a car raced away from her house.

After several long seconds, Rain was sure the vehicle was gone. Switching on her bedside lamp, she pulled the note off the rock. The lamplight was nearly blinding. Rain blinked to adjust her eyes to it before she began reading.

"Dear Rain,

Foolish of you to think you could fool me forever. Teresea Carson? You really thought I would not find out? I know who you are now. I know that you took Relena from me.

Did you miss me that much? Well, don't worry, I will be back for you and your whore of a mother. See you soon."

Reading the note once, Rain felt her heart speed up wildly again. Her hands shook so hard that she ripped the paper.

Without much more thought, Rain ran out of her room and down the hallway to the phone. In less than thirty seconds, she had reached the phone and had already dialed the number.

"Hello?" A groggy voice answered on the other line.

"Derek!" Rain said, her voice choked up with a fearful sob rising in her throat.

"Rain? What's wrong?" Derek asked, sounding fully awake then.

"He's back..." Rain whispered as she sank to the floor in tears. "He's back...and he knows where I am..."

To Be Continued...

-End of Chapter 16-

Author's Notes:

Sorry Minna-san for taking so long to get this chapter up. I had serious lack of motivation. My muse was out on holiday I think. But it's back! So I managed to get this chapter out and will probably have the next one up soon since school gets out THIS Friday! YAY!

Please tell me what you thought! Arigatou Minna!

-AlyRain 


	17. Ch 17

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. Take your lawsuits away from me! ((.))

Always There For You Chapter 17:

Rain sat on the floor, hugging her knees. The cordless phone lay on the floor beside her, long forgotten. Her entire body was trembling as she tried to control her quiet sobs. Huddled into herself, Rain refused to move from the hallway until she heard the sound of someone ringing the doorbell.

Shakily, Rain got to her feet and walked down the hallway to the carpeted staircase. Looking out the window above the front door from the stairs, Rain could see Derek's jeep parked in the driveway. She walked down the stairs in silence; feeling as if she made too much noise, someone might jump out from the shadows and grab her.

The young girl held her breath and looked out the peephole. Derek stood on the porch looking disheveled and extremely nervous. Without a thought, Rain threw the door open and jumped at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his chest.

Derek slowly hugged the girl protectively to himself as he surveyed the front yard.

"We need to get out of here..." Derek said, looking off into the shadows beside the house. The two teenagers parted and made a mad dash for the jeep that was still running. As soon as both teens were strapped in, Derek floored it and zoomed away from the house.

"Where are we going?" Rain asked, finally calming down the slightest bit. She stared blankly out at the dark road in front of them.

"Preventors Building. It's the safest place I can think of." Derek said, not taking his eyes from the road.

Rain turned to look at him. It was the first time she noticed how frightened he was. His eyes were narrowed, his entire face holding a grim look. Studying him closely, Rain could tell Derek had wasted no time coming to get her. His hair was sticking up in several places and he was dressed in his sleeping attire of soccer shorts, and a t-shirt.

"Where are your shoes...?" Rain mumbled. She had been in such a daze; the most random thing seemed the most vital.

"I forgot them." Derek answered. He stole a glance at her before turning onto the highway.

"Why?" Rain asked with wide, haunted eyes.

"I guess I didn't think about it-as soon as I knew Shelly was back, I took off...I don't remember anything before I was on your porch." Derek said, running a shaky hand through his hair.

"Oh." Rain said simply. She looked down to see her hands wringing themselves in her lap.

"You had gone silent...and then you didn't answer the door. I thought..." Derek gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"I'm sorry. I dropped the phone..." Rain said softly, still looking at her lap.

They had reached the parking garage. Derek turned the jeep off and stared at the steering wheel.

"I'm glad you were OK." The boy said without looking up.

"We should go inside. I will feel safer there." Rain said. Derek nodded and got out of the jeep. Grasping Derek's hand in hers, Rain walked onto the elevator.

"We can wait in my dad's office. Our parents have to check in there before they go home...mission protocol." Derek said as the elevator doors opened and the pair came up to a thick, locked, glass door.

Pushing a button beside the door, Rain stated her name. A buzz sounded and the door swung open automatically. The pair of teens walked down the red-light hallway and stopped upon another door.

At that door, a handprint was required. Derek pressed his palm to the screen and the thick, steel door slowly opened. Inside was another elevator leading to the secure offices in basement level where their parents worked.

The Peventor's HQ building was set up like any office building on top. But, on the underground level, it was more like a fortress. It was only reachable through a double set of specially designed doors and a hidden elevator.

After several seconds, the elevator stopped and the door opened. Rain and Derek went through another security door before they entered the hallway the offices were located on.

The entire hallway was dark and eerie. The only illumination was from a series of red emergency lights lining the floor and ceiling. Feeling blindly with her left hand, Rain switched on the lights, her right hand still clasped tightly with Derek's.

The teen blinked as the fluorescent lights kicked on. Her vision was overwhelmed with the sudden brightness.

Wordlessly, Derek walked to the first door on the right and opened it by entering a code in the box beside the doorknob. Flicking on the lights, he led Rain inside.

The teenaged girl surveyed the room. It was nearly a replica of her father's office except for the various decorations and papers scattered across the desk.

Derek let go of Rain's hand and opened a closet, sifting through it while Rain looked at various pictures around the room. She had been in that office many times, but the decorations changed constantly. Duo had always been switching around pictures and posters it seemed.

"My parents called me not long before...you called. They had said their shuttle was delayed. They won't be back for several hours." Derek said, pulling a pillow, a polar fleece blanket, and a sleeping bag out from the closet.

"Why didn't my parents tell me?" Rain said flatly as she studied a picture of Derek's parents.

"Your parents had left you a message. I guess you never checked them when you got home. I was told remind you to check if you called." Derek stated as he laid the sleeping bag out on the floor and unzipped it.

"Does your dad always keep that in the office?" Rain asked, looking at Derek from across the room.

"He's had to pull a few all-nighters." Derek replied as he spread out the polar fleece blanket on top of the sleeping bag, using the thicker sleeping bag as padding.

"Oh."

Neither Rain nor Derek had spoken about what had happened. They were both severely freaked out, but they had distracted themselves by keeping their minds centered on finding safety. After that, they simply tried not to think of much.

"We should sleep. I'm dead tired and you look like it." Derek said, studying Rain's face.

Rain nodded and sat down on the sleeping bag. Derek stepped over to the desk and turned on the dim desk lamp as a night light. He then walked over to switch off the overhead lights.

Silently, Derek sat down beside Rain and laid his head on the pillow. She laid down beside him as he pulled the blanket over the both of them.

With safety secured, Rain was forced to remember why they were there. Her eyes welled up with tears and she began to shake with sobs.

"Why are you crying? We're safe here." Derek said softly as he wrapped an arm around Rain. She buried her face in his chest and clung to him.

"I don't know!" Rain said shakily as she continued to cry.

"It's OK. You're probably still shaken up... I was scared too." Derek said as he ruffled Rain's hair. He continued to stroke her hair until her sobs ceased.

"Thank you for coming to get me..." Rain whispered, wiping tears from her eyes.

"I'll always be there for you Rain." Derek said, kissing her forehead. Rain smiled sleepily and snuggled closer, closing her heavy eyelids.

The pair of teens held each other closely, trying to comfort one another and feel secure as they attempted sleep. It was a long time before either of them dozed off, content in each other's arms.

-xx-

Several hours later, near 10 am, Derek and Rain looked up as the door to Duo's office was thrown open. With gun leveled, Duo stared in bewilderment at the two teens. His eyebrows shot up and he slowly lowered his gun.

"Found who left the lights on." Duo called over his shoulder. He looked back at the teens, curiosity and concern getting the better of him.

Rain and Derek stared at Duo curiously as they went back to sipping their coffees. They had awoken two hours before and had been discussing how to talk to their parents when they arrived.

Heero ran into the room followed by Relena, Hilde, Wufei, and Sally. They all seemed surprised to find Derek and Rain there.

"We thought someone had broken in somehow when we found all the hall lights on." Hilde said, blowing her bangs out of her face.

"What's wrong?" Heero asked, narrowing his eyes at Derek and Rain. He, like the rest of his comrades, was exhausted. They had barely slept in the previous 24 hours. However, all of them were full of adrenaline, knowing that something was amiss.

"Derek brought me here...we thought it would be safer." Rain began, lowering her paper cup.

"Safer?" Relena prompted.

"Shelly came back. He came to our house-I woke up when he broke my bedroom window with a rock. It had a note saying he knows who I am... After I thought he was gone I called Derek and here we are." Rain said, frowning deeply. She remained calm, in spite of the fear and sorrow rising inside of her.

"What the fuck?" Duo cursed. He seemed to have expressed how the rest of his comrades felt at that moment.

"Why would he come after you?" Heero asked. He could tell that Rain was withholding something.

The teen was unnerved by her father's all-knowing glower. She fidgeted in her seat on the couch and chewed on her lip for several seconds as she stared at the floor.

"Rain, why would he come after you?" Heero repeated.

"I...knew him before the rescue mission." Rain finally said. She looked into her father's eyes with sorrow in her own.

"How did you know him?" Heero asked, his gaze never wavering.

"He was Coach Shelly." Rain replied.

"The swimming coach who tried to molest one of the girls on your swim team?" Heero asked, his eyes widened in shock.

"Yes." Rain said flatly, trying to keep her courage from slowly dissipating under her father's hard stare.

"Why didn't you tell us that you already knew him?" Hilde asked when Heero had not spoken.

Rain did not shift her gaze from her father's. Guilt was welling up inside of her stomach. When she looked at her father, she could see the concern burning in his eyes. It killed her to have kept such a secret from him.

"I didn't want you to know..." Rain began, her voice becoming softer with each word.

"Why not?" Relena prompted that time.

"I didn't want you to know that I was the girl." Rain said, her voice barely a whisper.

"What?" Duo said, his jaw dropping. He was the only person in the room who openly voiced his shock.

The room was filled with a heavy silence for what felt like eternity to Rain. Her stomach was twisting up more and more with each passing second. She felt that if someone did not speak soon, she would go insane.

"Should we leave you alone to talk?" Duo asked after a long time. Neither Heero nor Rain responded.

"Right...Well, we will go wander around, maybe get some food upstairs." Duo said, ushering the others out of the room. Derek stood from his seat beside Rain and walked out the door behind his father.

"If you need us, we will be around." Derek said, closing the door behind himself.

With the room empty except for Rain and Heero, the tension between the two grew.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Heero said, his gaze showing his sorrow.

"I...I don't know. I guess I thought that you would be disappointed in me." Rain said, looking down at the ground.

"Why would you think that?" Heero asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Because I had nearly been... I thought you would not understand or think I was stupid for not being able to prevent it."

"I would never think that about you... What I don't understand is how I never found out about it. The school should have told me if you were the one who pressed charges." Heero said, sitting down on his knees in front of Rain.

"I asked them not to tell you...I said I would." Rain said quietly, looking up at her father again with tear-filled eyes.

"Will you tell me now?" Heero asked softly, not wanting to disturb his daughter's already upset state. The girl nodded her head slowly. She took in a shaky breath and tried to gather her thoughts.

"I...went to talk to the coach in his office and he...pushed me down on the desk. I tried so hard to get away from him..." Rain paused to swallow back the sob rising in her throat. It was only the second time she had told anyone about her traumatic experience. And somehow, telling her father was the hardest.

"He had managed to get almost all my clothes off when Jack came in... When he saw what was going on, he attacked Shelly. Got him off of me and we ran..." Rain paused to draw in another shaky breath. She could not bring herself to look at her father while she told him her story.

"We went to Jack's house...and when I had calmed down a bit, we called the police... The next day, we had a meeting with the school officials. The police had gotten enough evidence and...with Jack as my witness, Shelly was arrested. I never knew what had happened to him..." Rain trailed off.

"You and Jack have kept it a secret all this time?" Heero asked.

"Derek found out on the rescue mission. I'm sorry I didn't tell you...I felt so...ashamed." Rain looked up at her father and began to cry.

"Don't cry. You didn't do anything wrong. And...I understand why you didn't tell me." Heero said. He rose from his seat on the floor and hugged his daughter to himself.

The young girl continued to cry in her father's comforting embrace. She was relieved to have finally told him the truth. However, the pain from the experience and the fear of what was to come would not leave her.

"I'm scared...he said he knew I was the one who took Mommy away from him..." Rain mumbled into her father's shoulder.

"Don't worry. If he comes near either of you again, I'll kill him." Heero looked over Rain's shoulder at the wall with so much malice in his gaze, it would not have been surprising if the wall had suddenly erupted into flames.

"I'll kill him." Heero repeated quietly.

To Be Continued...

-End of Chapter 17-

Author's Notes:

Sorry that was so short. But, I thought that would be a nice, dramatic place to stop. Please review, it fuels my inspiration. I promise the next chapter will be out soon. I have a job now so, I usually write when I get home from work. It seems I have the most creativity when I'm tired...strange.

Anyway, please review. I adore you all my faithful readers!

-AlyRain 


	18. Ch 18

Disclaimer: Yeah...I still don't own GW...

Always There For You Chapter 18:

One month had passed. One month had washed away since Derek had kissed Rain. And, in all that time, neither of them had been able to talk about that afternoon. Things had remained awkward between them. Neither was sure how to bring it up. So, in all that time, they had silently agreed to act as normal as possible without mentioning the mishap.

Shelly had not shown himself in all that time either. The Yuy's were starting to grow both relaxed and anxious. They were slowly getting used to sharing the large mansion with the Wales family. There was enough room that several families could have lived there comfortably. Yet, at the same time, they grew weary as no news turned up about Shelly's whereabouts.

The former pilots and the Peacecraft family had been working extremely hard, long hours to track down the psycho; but, to no avail. It was as though Shelly had dropped off the earth after his late night threat to Rain.

The girl was happy to be less paranoid. She felt safe at the Wales house. Chelsea was like a sister to her, and she adored the entire family. That, and she had more pressing teenage troubles to deal with.

It was night. Rain was lying in her room at the Wales residence, lost in her own train of thought. For the entire month following the semi-pool party, Rain had been tormenting herself with thoughts of Derek.

Staring up at the dark ceiling, she sighed for the umpteenth time that night. Looking to her left at the clock on the nightstand, she found that it was 3 am. It was becoming a bad habit; her stress was depriving her of sleep and it frustrated her.

The teen had debated sleeping in Chelsea's room that night, thinking the girl could talk to her and she would at least be able take her mind off things. Any moment she was alone, she thought of Derek and how she had wronged him. The scene kept replaying over and over in her mind until she found herself lying in bed, awake, just like that particular night.

Rain had wanted so badly to get advice from Chelsea. But at the same time, she had not wanted to rain on her best friend's parade. Chelsea had been quite excited for the previous few weeks, talking about Jason and the latest adorable things he had done or said.

It was true that Rain was happy for her friend, but she was a little jealous of how simple Chelsea had it. It seemed that the only problem between her and Jason was that they were not officially dating yet. There were no mistakes between them, no idiotic misunderstandings.

Rolling onto her side and glaring at the wall, Rain began to pout. It was hard enough scolding herself over screwing with Derek's head. It was even worse knowing that she was not giving her one hundred percent happiness to her best friend's current successes; nor was she truly helping her friend out as she should have been.

The guilt was eating away at her. She felt guilty for how she had treated Derek, guilty for not responding, guilty for not explaining, and guilty for not helping her best friend out with her own boy problems.

Furrowing her brow in frustration, Rain replayed the past events in her mind for what she knew was at least the hundredth time that night.

' "Do you really want to know?"

"Only if you want to tell me." And then he leaned down and kissed me...' Rain thought, tapping her lip with her index finger.

"I am SUCH a MORON!" She said in exasperation as she buried her face in her pillow. As if her mind were not plagued as it was, the object of her stress was staying in the same house that very night.

Rain had a lot of trouble trying not to barge into Jack's room, drag Derek out and plant a kiss on him. The girl giggled at the thought, picturing the look on his face.

'Yeah right. He probably hates me now.' Rain thought, sobering up once again.

With a defeated sigh, Rain flopped her head back against her pillow and closed her eyes. She had been getting an average of four hours of sleep per night. If she did not get some sleep that night, she worried she would end up sick.

Frustration getting the better of her, Rain threw back her blankets and got out of the bed. She walked to the door and flung it open, determined to talk to Chelsea, regardless of what time of night it was. She needed to get at least some guilt off of her chest.

The brunette girl jumped in fright as she nearly collided with someone standing in the doorway. Upon closer inspection, she recognized that it was Derek, standing just outside her door with an equally surprised look on his face.

"Shit you scared me!" Rain hissed in the quiet hallway.

"Sorry." Derek said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck in a nervous gesture he had picked up from his father.

"What are you doing here?" Rain asked, crossing her arms and glaring daggers at Derek, a trait she had picked up from her own father.

"I wanted to talk to you." Derek said, frowning under her accusing stare.

"At three in the morning? How long have you been standing there?" Rain asked, her eyes remaining icy.

"I couldn't sleep... I've been here about five minutes maybe. I was debating whether or not to wake you up. Did you hear me walk up or something?" Derek replied.

"No...I've been awake. Was going to talk to Chelsea." Rain said, finally softening her gaze.

"Oh. I'll go then." Derek said.

"No...you're awake, I'm awake. It'd be better if I didn't wake Chelsea up." Rain said with a sigh, rubbing her tired eyes. She stepped aside, allowing him entrance.

"What did you need to talk about?" Rain asked as Derek sat down on the edge of her bed while she closed the door. Sitting beside him, she looked carefully at him in the dim light from the open windows.

"I just...wanted to talk to you. Since I couldn't sleep." Derek said softly. Rain felt a pang of sorrow hit her gut. Before the whole kissing incident, Rain and Derek had talked on the phone late into the night if one of them could not sleep. Luckily, both teens had their own phone lines so that their parents had never been able to scold them for it.

"Oh." Was all Rain could say in response.

"You OK?" Derek asked, his friendly instincts kicking in.

"Huh?" Rain had been working off the looks of apathy and her heart sank when she remembered how easily Derek could read her emotions.

"You just...looked stressed. What did you need to talk to Chelsea about?"

"Oh...I've...been a bad friend." Rain finally said, plucking at the blanket beneath her.

"What do you mean?"

"She's so excited about Jason...and I have been so apathetic about it. I feel guilty for not caring as much. I mean, she's one of my best friends. I should be so excited for her...but I just...get annoyed or don't care whenever she brings it up."

"Why do you think that is?"

"I dunno...maybe I am jealous she's happy...or maybe I just wish life were so simple. She complains about how they are not officially together. I tell her to just ask him out already and she goes on and on about how she thinks she would be rushing into it. So...I just want to tell her that's life. I mean, you can't expect your first boyfriends to be the ones you marry!" Rain said, waving her hands for emphasis.

"I sure hope not." Derek laughed lightly, wrinkling his nose at the thought of some of his first girlfriends.

"That would mean I would be married to Jack...and you would end up marrying someone like Jennifer Pike." Rain said, trying to recall the name of Derek's first girlfriend that she knew of.

"Eeeh." Derek shuddered dramatically at the memory of his first girlfriend from his sophomore year. Jennifer had turned out to be a completely bitchy slut. It had seemed that the girl got some sick pleasures out of treating Derek like her lapdog.

At first, she had claimed to be suicidal over Derek, so he had refused to break up with her for the fear of her rash behavior. It had all been a ploy though. A cruel ploy to keep Derek in her maniacal clutches.

Jack had been the first to find out the truth. He had been trying to talk some sense into Jennifer when she had come on to him. They had been at Derek's house one day, watching a movie in Derek's room when Derek had left to get drinks.

While Derek was out of the room, Jack had attempted to talk to the girl. He had tried to convince her that there was more to life than the people you dated; it was not worth it to kill herself over Derek.

At the time, Jack had felt guilty. He knew Derek really liked the girl. But, he also knew that Jennifer would be really mean and nasty to him. Jack had never understood how his best friend put up with it. That is, until Jack had learned about Jennifer's supposed suicide attempts.

By then, Jack just hoped to get his friend away from the crazy girl. And, he knew the only way to do that was by convincing Jennifer that there was more to life than Derek Maxwell.

In reality, Jennifer frightened Jack. He had had a feeling that she was too controlled. Her random fits of anger and depression seemed odd. It had always made him wonder whether or not her emotional torment about Derek had all been an act to keep him in her control.

That one day, fate had helped Jack out it seemed. In the middle of their conversation, Jennifer had jumped him and told him to fuck her before Derek came back. Both shocked and appalled, Jack had shoved her off of him, making her fall quite painfully to the floor. It was around that time that Derek had walked back in.

The result had been a big fight between all three of them. When Jack had tried telling Derek what had happened, Derek had not known whom to believe. It ended with Jack being kicked out and the both of them not speaking for a week.

Things were not resolved until a week later when Derek had mistakenly walked in on Jennifer screwing one of their high school's varsity football players. The girl's parents had said she was upstairs studying. They were completely oblivious to what was really going on and had unknowingly sent Derek up to surprise the girl.

Derek had been the one surprised. After screaming many obscenities, Derek had stormed out of the house realizing how stupid he had been for mistrusting Jack.

Rain had known all of it from both sides. Both Derek and Jack had told her their versions of the story over time. She had attempted to be the mediator, but it had not worked too well. In the end, she was glad they had worked things out on their own.

"I'm glad Jack was able to help me get away from that bitch." Derek said, rolling his eyes at the memory.

"Yeah..." Rain said.

"I miss talking to you. You know we haven't talked like this since..." Derek trailed off, unsure if he wanted to hit that particular topic.

"Since what?" Rain asked, sick of beating around the bush. She knew he must have thought about the whole ordeal a lot too. It was time to just discuss it and move on.

"Nevermind." Derek mumbled.

"No. We need to talk about it." Rain said, trying to catch his gaze in the darkness.

"Yeah..." Derek sighed and fiddled with the fabric of her blanket.

"I...I'm sorry." Rain said weakly.

"No, I'm sorry... I shouldn't have kissed you... when I didn't know..." Derek continued to look at the blanket.

"But-" Rain started.

"It's OK really. I shouldn't have just assumed." Derek said, cutting her off.

The two fell into silence. Rain felt her heart rate picking up. He still misunderstood. He thought she had meant there were no feelings there. She had always liked him. It had simply taken her that long to realize how much she really cared about him. And then, finally presented the opportunity to tell him, she had frozen up.

"Do...do you remember what I said to you...at that Christmas party at my uncle's house...?" Rain asked.

"You didn't want me to be sad." Derek replied, giving her a curious stare. "I'm not sad if tha-"

"That's not what I meant," Rain said, cutting him off. "I meant that...I realized that day...how much you mean to me...As a friend." Rain finished.

The hopeful feeling Derek had been getting had suddenly died. He felt as though his world had been shattered. He wondered why she was stressing it. How could she so unknowingly wring his heart out like a dirty dishtowel?

"What's wrong?" Rain asked. She had not been done with her train of thought and was sidetracked by Derek's sudden sad look.

"Nothing. I get it now." Derek said, clenching his jaw.

"Get what? I wasn't done explaining..." Rain said, clearly confused.

"Why are you doing this?" Derek asked, finally looking up at her.

"Doing what? I am trying to make amends if you would just let-"

"No I get it. You can stop. I get what I did was wrong. And I get that you don't want me to be sad. But you're not helping. I don't want you to feel sorry for me." Derek said through clenched teeth.

Rain's eyes widened in horror as she realized what he was getting at. Had Derek not turned away at that exact moment, he would have seen it and not reacted the same way he did.

"I'm going to bed." Derek grumbled, walking to the door.

"No Derek wait. You didn't let me explain." Rain said.

"You don't have to." He said as he opened the door and walked out.

Looking back inside, Derek gave Rain a relaxed look, even though his eyes were filled with sorrow.

"I'll be fine. I promise. Now that I know...I can finally move on." Derek smiled falsely at Rain and reached to close the door.

"Night." Derek whispered before he shut the door.

Tears sprang to Rain's eyes. She could not react fast enough. Her mind was working overtime again. The damage had been done. She had screwed up again.

Leaping to her feet, Rain rushed to the door and jerked it open. It had only been a split second after Derek had closed the door. He was still standing outside, a shocked look on his face.

"Derek!" Rain wailed as she ran towards him.

"Rain! No!" Derek yelled. The girl stopped half a foot in front of him and looked onward at him with blurry, confused, eyes.

"Wha..." Rain whispered as she tried to follow the boy's gaze. Whipping her entire body around in a dizzying rush, Rain's jaw dropped. Shelly stood before her, aiming a gun point-blank-range at her head.

Closing her eyes tightly, Rain was overwhelmed by fear. Her mind went blank. She was too frightened to be worried or to feel bad about her life ending so soon. There was only one thing that floated to the surface of her mind: her father.

"I'm sorry Daddy." Rain said through clenched teeth as she braced herself for the impending pain of the bullets.

A stinging pain sliced past the left side of Rain's ribcage. With a startled cry, she fell backwards into Derek's arms, colors dancing before her eyes.

Blinking rapidly to clear her vision, Rain forced her mind to focus. Looking down, she saw that she had knocked Derek over when she had fallen.

Pushing herself up slowly, Rain hissed again as a stinging pain rippled through her entire body, stemming from her left side. Placing her hand there, Rain found it moist and sticky.

In the dim light of the hallway, Rain glanced at her hand shining with dark liquid. Blood. Her mind reeling, she tried to think of something to do, some way to react to the blood on her hands.

Turning around with her hand still suspended before her eyes, Rain did the first thing that came to her mind. She screamed.

After a split second pause, Rain heard footsteps running down the long hall, towards them.

"RAIN!" Heero shouted from the end of the hall.

"You fucking bitch! Next time I will get you, not your retarded boyfriend." Shelly said before he took off running for the back stairwell.

"What?" Rain choked out. Tearing her eyes away to look at the crumpled form beside her, Rain felt her heart stop beating.

Derek lay motionless on the floor. A dark shadow was growing around him. Rain could feel a warm, gooey substance lapping at her bare feet. Her stomach heaved when she realized it was Derek's blood.

Falling to her knees, Rain scooped Derek's head into her lap. She understood then why there had been so little damage done to her. The bullet had grazed her side and had hit Derek instead.

Tears were streaming down the girl's cheeks. Cradling the older boy's head in her lap, Rain hugged him tightly and him rocked back and forth. She was so trapped in fright, she was unsure what to do.

"Oh God...Oh god... Derek? Derek? Oh Kami-sama..." Rain choked out, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry..." Rain said, her voice cracking as she choked back another sob. Derek blinked once, and looked at her with an odd expression. It was mixed between pain and delirium.

"Derek?" Rain's voice rang in uncertainty. She was feeling tired. Unsure what else to do, she leaned back against the wall for support while she fought back her exhaustion. "Derek..." Her eyes were closing. Her tears were slowing as she lost a battle to fatigue.

"Why're you...crying?" Derek asked weakly before his eyes slid closed and he fell limp in her arms. Jerking herself awake, Rain began shaking the limp form in her arms.

"No...No, wake up! Wake up!"

When his eyes remained closed, all the adrenaline left Rain's body, making her feel ten times more exhausted. Her control was slipping more and more as the seconds dragged by.

From that point onward, everything in Rain's world seemed to be moving in slow motion. She barely noticed as her father touched her shoulder, trying to get her attention. His voice sounded as though it were underwater.

It did not phase her in the slightest when she was suddenly surrounded by people. Quatre was yelling something into a cell phone while Heero was still trying to get Rain's attention.

Chelsea stood nearby, leaning against Jack as tears streamed down both of their faces. Relena stood beside them, her lips drawn tight as she clasped Dorothy's hands in her own, trying to hold on to what little bravery she had.

"Rain...Rain...the ambulance is on its way. I need you to let go of Derek. I have to check both of your wounds."

"Is he dead...?" Rain spoke so softly, that Heero nearly missed what she had said.

"I don't know. I need to find out. So, I need you to let go." Heero said gently.

"I...didn't...get to explain...that I...love..." Rain's eyes slid shut, her sentence forgotten. The girl's vision was filled with darkness as the world faded away into the abyss of her mind.

-xx-

Snapping her eyes open, Rain stared dizzily at the wall in front of her. A blue wall; the wall of her room at the Wales residence.

Shivering and drawing in quick breaths to slow her racing heart, Rain tried to process her surroundings. Her head hurt, her back hurt, her whole body felt exhausted.

It had been a nightmare. Nothing more than a horrible dream. Shelly had not really returned. Derek had not been shot. It had all been a cruel trick of her subconscious.

It had seemed so real. The images were haunting the edges of Rain's mind. She burrowed into her blankets and tried to fight off the cool chill from her sweat-covered body.

Rain jumped with surprise as a knock sounded at the door. She could hear it open slowly and heard footsteps approaching her bed.

"Rain?" A whispered question came in the dim morning light.

Rolling over onto her other side, despite the fear of what she may find, Rain looked at the newly arrived person.

Derek stood over her, his expression changing from curiosity to concern as he studied her. He sat down on the edge of the bed and put a hand on her blanketed shoulder.

"Rain? What's wrong?" Derek asked. He looked down at her shaking form and his heart melted into a bubbling puddle of mixed emotions.

Rain sat up slowly and pulled the blanket around herself, trying to ward off her incessant shivering. She looked at Derek and swallowed a few times before she spoke.

"I...I had a really creepy dream. What are you doing here?" Rain asked as she brushed her hair out of her face. She suddenly felt shy, recalling the fight they had had in the dream. She could barely remember if they had fought in real life or only in the dream.

"Chelsea sent me in here to tell you breakfast is ready. Our plane for Japan leaves in 3 hours. Did you forget to set your alarm?

"Yeah...guess so." Rain mumbled. The former gundam pilots were going on a business trip to Japan and their children had been asked to come along for one reason or other.

"Oh well, you're up now. So what was your dream about?" Derek asked, relieved that Rain was merely shaken up.

"Well...I was trying to tell you...something really important. But you would not listen to me." Rain began, starting to feel much calmer than when she had first awoken.

"Then...you left...And I felt bad. So, I followed you out of my room and into the hallway. But...in the hallway, Shelly was there, pointing a gun at you..." Rain trailed off, blinking at the painful images polluting her mind.

"What happened?" Derek prompted her.

"You...got shot. And, I still wanted to tell you something...but you had stopped moving. My dad found us. He had been saying something, but everything became fuzzy. I told him I wanted to tell you something...and then I guess I had died or passed out because everything got dark and I woke up." Rain concluded.

Despite the lack of details, Derek nodded his head in thought, analyzing the few things he had gathered.

"Well...death in a dream usually means change. So, I guess your subconscious is telling you that...you are worried if you keep something from me, things will change..." Derek said, looking at her again.

"That makes sense." Rain replied, trying to avoid his look.

"So, what are you not telling me?" Derek asked.

"I don't know." Rain lied.

"Nice try." Derek smirked. "Just tell me. If you are having nightmares over it, it must be something important."

"Heh. It is important." Rain said with a wry smile.

"Well, then tell me. If it's important to you, I want to know what it is."

"It's about..." Rain trailed off.

"About?" Derek raised his eyebrows.

"About the kiss."

"Oh..." Derek said simply. He frowned down at the blanket with a guilty look in his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"No! Don't be sorry!" Rain said, taking his hands in hers.

"Why?" Raising his blue-violet eyes to meet hers, Derek shook his head slowly in confusion.

"Because...Because..."

"See...you have no reasons for me not to feel bad." Derek said with a sad smile.

"No, wait. The reason that...I didn't react...was because I was confused. I knew I cared about you as a friend. I knew you were important to me. I have always known that. But...I could not admit to myself the truth. I denied it...I lied to myself." Rain said.

"Lied...?"

Words began to come from Rain's mouth in a busy rush. A month of pent-up emotions was taking its toll on her.

"This entire month, I have been thinking about how I screwed up so badly. How I have BEEN screwing up. And I had wanted to tell you...but I didn't know how to explain it..." Rain sucked in a breath. "I'm such a screw up. And I know it's too late...and I'm sorry."

"What's too late?" Derek said quietly, fearing and hoping for her answer at the same time.

"I love you...so much it hurts." Rain whispered as tears formed in her eyes.

Derek sat there in silence for a long time as tears slowly slid down Rain's cheeks. He could only stare at her with half opened mouth after she had poured her heart out to him so suddenly.

"I'm sorry." Rain whispered and looked away.

"I love you." Derek said softly.

"What?" Turning to face him again, Rain wondered if her mind had been playing tricks on her.

"I love you." Derek repeated.

The daughter of the Yuy family could only look at him with bewilderment. His eyes seemed to hold their own light even in the dim, early-morning light of the room. It puzzled Rain and at the same time made her heart soar at the very sight of them.

It was then that everything fell into place. After seeing the happiness in Derek's eyes and thinking back on everything, she knew what she had been hiding from herself all that time.

Derek wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair. Slowly falling into the warmth of his strong embrace, Rain closed her eyes and nuzzled his neck.

They remained like that, feeling rejuvenated in each other's presence for what seemed like an eternity.

Chelsea peeped her head in the open doorway with her cheerful, morning grin on her face. Stepping all the way in, her jaw dropped in both amusement and surprise.

Regaining her senses, the blonde girl grinned wickedly and folded her arms over her chest. Leaning back against the wall and staring at Rain and Derek, her grin became even more smug.

"It's about fucking TIME!" Chelsea yelled.

To Be Continued...

-End of Chapter 18-

Author's Notes: "But at the same time, she had not wanted to rain on her best friend's parade." Wow...a pun. I didn't even recognize it at first! Hehe.

Well, that; the new chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. I rewrote it so many times. I thought I might trash the whole thing if I didn't just post it soon. Hehe.

So? What do you think? Did you really think Derek had died? Well, hold on folks, because there's still lots more to be done in this story. :grins evily: Please Review!

Please R&R!

-AlyRain

May 26th, 2004 


	19. Ch 19

Disclaimer: I, AlyRain, do hereby declare that I do not own the series Gundam Wing.

-Always There For You Chapter 19-

July 25th, A.C. 216:

Bored. That was how Rain felt. She was utterly bored as she stared out the window of the Preventors building in Kyoto, Japan. The Yuy family and the Wales family had arrived in Tokyo two days earlier and had taken a train from Tokyo to Kyoto.

Kyoto was a beautiful city, but Rain had seen very little of it. For the previous two days, she had been stuck in the room of the living quarters on the top floor of the Preventors building. Her family had been attending meetings with other important Preventors in the floors below while she had been left alone in their temporary apartment to find her own amusement.

Through the open, screened in window, Rain could just barely see one of the Shinto shrines illuminated by the late afternoon sun. She wished that she could venture out and look at the shrine, but she was under the strict orders not to leave without her father. Shelly had still not been found and there was a chance he was in Kyoto.

It seemed odd that only the Wales, Yuy, and Maxwell families had traveled to Kyoto in search of Shelly. If he was going to be there, Rain figured that the Barton and Chang families would have come along as well. They all wanted to help Heero stop the wicked man who had kidnapped his wife.

Glancing over her shoulder at the door, Rain let out a sigh. Derek, Chelsea, and Jack had left to find lunch in town while they waited for their parents to return from their meetings. Rain was the only child forbidden to leave. Her father insisted it was too dangerous for her to leave, even though she had argued that the others were given free roam of the city.

Looking back out the window, Rain lost herself in her thoughts. Being tired of TV and having no where to go, there was nothing better to do anyway.

Somehow, things simply did not add up. It was really bothering Rain, thinking about how strange her parents had seemed even before arriving in Kyoto. The prospect of running into Shelly would set any sane person on edge, but that was no reason for her parents to be so distant. It had become subtly apparent to Rain that her parents barely spoke to each other and seemed on the brink of fighting every time they did communicate. It was surprising that they tolerated each other long enough to sleep in the same room.

In her mind, Rain went over what little information she did know about that trip. It was not a plot to catch Shelly, which was an oddity in itself. The major point of the trip was to seek out someone else without Shelly finding out. However, when Rain had asked about the identity of that person, her parents had avoided answering.

It was very troubling to realize that her parents were keeping so many secrets from her. Rain knew her family was not exactly perfect. They had gone through many rough times in order to find a comfortable median. Even at that point, Rain still felt somewhat estranged from her mother. She wondered if things would ever really be normal.

The door behind her opened and Rain was surprised to see her parents and not her friends standing behind her. Looking over her father's face carefully, Rain could tell that he was both physically and emotionally worn out. Her mother on the other hand, simply looked nervous.

"We're going out." Her father stated simply.

"Where?" Rain asked, her curiosity nearly as strong as her excitement at the possibility of leaving the Preventors building.

"School." Her father said, his voice leaving no signs of further implications.

"What?"

"I'll explain on the way. We need to leave now."

"OK..." Rain said as she stood form her seat by the window and followed her parents out into the hallway. "Are the Wales and the Maxwells coming too?"

"No. This is strictly a family affair." Heero said, his frustration slipping out again.

"Oh... Well, Chels and the others went to get lunch for me..." Rain trailed off.

"Their parents will inform them where you are." Heero said.

Her father was speaking like a robot, emotionless and methodical. It was unnerving to find him that way. Rain had never really known her father to be so stoic. After Relena had "died", he had gone through a lot of personality changes to be a good, loving father to Rain. His emotionless ways as the perfect soldier during the Eve Wars was not something Rain had ever really known.

As the family of three walked down the street, Rain studied her parents. Her father stood tall like a hawk, viciously studying everyone around them as potential threats. Relena on the other hand, kept her heard ducked down as though she were trying her best to blend in to the afternoon crowd. It made Rain wonder exactly what connections Shelly had to the city of Kyoto.

Following the examples of both parents, Rain kept her head down cast slightly, but remained conscious of those around her. With the crowd thickening as civilians went on their lunch breaks, Rain did not want to lose sight of her parents, nor did she want to seem like they were really together.

-xx-

After about thirty minutes of walking, the Yuy family arrived at their destination, just outside of the Kyoto City limits. With her curiosity rising again, Rain stared fixedly on the tall, old-fashioned building before them. It was large, spread out, concrete and stone building that stretched five stories in height with a few cherry trees and shrubs dotting the courtyard. Overall, it was an average looking school, but with an air of importance.

Moving her vision to the sign above the front steps, Rain carefully read the kanji characters painted there. Her father had been teaching her Japanese for years, so she had little problem interpreting the words: "Watase Boys Secondary School".

The name of the school only furthered Rain's confusion. Her father had told her they were looking for a student, but Rain had figured they were looking for a university student who was an ally to the Preventors.

A bell tolled and large group of students streamed out onto the courtyard grounds. The boys spread out in the courtyard, keeping inside the fence marking the school's perimeter. Rain let her eyes travel from place to place, analyzing the boys who were apparently enjoying their lunch time break.

A moderate sized group of boys ranging from seventh grade to twelfth started up a soccer game. Most of the other students simply formed little groups and chatted. They did not seem to notice the three Yuys standing beside the open gate, watching them from a far.

Looking at her parents, Rain followed their gazes to the younger looking group of boys who were seated on the concrete, front steps, trading manga books among themselves before settling down to read them.

"Is that him? The one with the brown hair?" Heero asked. He was referring to one of the odd boys of the group. He, along with another blonde boy, was the only European looking child in a sea of black-haired, Japanese boys.

"Yes." Relena said quietly. Her gaze dropped to the ground and she pursed her lips together, seemingly straining against her emotions at seeing that particular boy.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Heero asked, frustration evident in his tone.

"I have to. I can't stand the thought of him spending so much time with that monster."

"Fine. Let's go. You will have to talk to the principal about the release papers. Hopefully we can get him out tonight. Tomorrow is their one week family vacation. We need to get him out before Shelly comes to take him home" Heero started towards the building with Relena close behind, nervously chewing her lip.

Rain followed all though she was getting more and more confused by the moment. Shelly was taking a child home for a family visit...? The idea left her stomach in knots.

As they started up the steps, the boy Relena and Heero had spoken of looked up in surprise. Without a word of explanation to his friends, he jumped up and followed the Yuy family into the building.

It was not until they stopped outside the principal's office that Rain was able to get a close look at him. They boy looked about eleven or twelve years old with short, brown hair hanging just above his bright blue eyes. He was a younger, exact copy of Shelly aside from his eyes. Shelly's eyes had been more green and this boy's eyes were deep blue.

"Okaasan?" The boy said softly, staring directly at Relena.

Rain's eyes widened and her mouth fell open. She wondered if her mind was playing tricks on her. That boy had just called Relena "mother" in Japanese.

The boy seemed to remember to switch languages before he spoke again in perfect English. Even if it had been in Japanese, Rain would still have understood and felt the same amount of shock at what he said next.

"Mom, What are you doing here with these people?" The boy inquired, waving a hand in Rain and Heero's direction. "Otousan said you were kidnapped!"

Looking at her father for an explanation, Rain quickly clamped her mouth shut and narrowed her eyes. Heero recognized the accusatory stare his daughter was giving him and for a brief moment, his angry mask fell and a look of apology swept across his features.

"I'm sorry Rain. I couldn't find an easy way to tell you..." Relena trailed off.

Rain quickly looked towards her mother as she tried to focus on what she was saying.

"We thought the best way for you to find out would be to see for yourself." Relena continued, wincing at the angry look Heero sent her way.

"What's going on?" The boy asked; he had no way of knowing. If he had known who Heero was and who Rain was, he may have put things together as Rain had.

"Robbie, sweety, I'm here to take you home with me..." Relena said softly.

And that's when she knew. The look Relena was giving the boy revealed it all. Robbie was Relena's son. Biologically or not, that boy was bonded with Relena. The looks between them showed how connected they were. It was the same connection Rain felt towards her father. The same connection that Rain had not had with her mother since she had been kidnapped years before.

Rain was jealous. It struck her without warning. She had grown up without knowing her own mother. Then, after Relena had been suddenly thrown back into her life again, Rain had been unable to make a solid bond with her. It hurt to know that a boy Rain had never heard of before was closer to her mother than she was.

"But...these people...they're the ones who took you away, aren't they?" Robbie asked, innocence written all over his face.

"Yes, they are. But they helped me. I was sick and they helped me get better. I will explain later. Right now I need to talk to your principal. Why don't you go upstairs and pack up your bags? I'll be here waiting for you." Relena smiled warmly and ruffled the boy's hair to soothe him. Robbie looked confused and alarmed.

"OK..." Robbie said, nodding and walking off down the hallway.

Relena stepped into the office while Rain and her father remained outside in the hall. Anger, frustration, confusion, and sadness were battling full force inside Rain's body as she turned her watery eyes onto her father.

"Is he really...?" Rain trailed off, unable to voice the question she'd been avoiding in her mind.

"Yes." Her father answered. Guilt and anger were evident on his face as his jaw was set and his eyes looked haunted.

"When did you find out?"

"A little while after she came back from treatment." Heero sighed and leaned back against the wall, his eyes downcast. He suddenly felt very old.

"She didn't want you to tell me...?"

"Yes. At first she thought about severing ties with him completely and then you would never find out. I figured, even though it was hard, things were starting to go back to normal... Then, after Shelly showed up that night while you were alone, she decided we needed to get Robbie away from him. She thought it would be best if you didn't find out until now."

"That's why you two have been fighting so much right, because of Robbie...?"

"Among other things." Heero said simply.

"Like what?" Rain asked. She and her father rarely kept secrets from each other. She figured he would be able to tell her why things had gone awry between him and Relena.

"Well... Relena had to deal with a lot of things when she came back. All though she recognized she was brainwashed, it was hard to let go of the life she had known with Shelly. The hardest part for her was not seeing Robbie. I was angry when I found out she had a child with that monster...but I know I can't blame her. As far as she knew, Shelly was a perfectly decent human."

While several moments of silence passed between them, Rain contemplated how her life would be, knowing that she had a younger half brother. She hoped he was like her mother, not like his father.

"How is she going to break the news to Robbie?" Rain asked, startling Heero out of his own thoughts.

"As slow as possible. She and Robbie are going to stay alone for a little while when we get back to LA."

"Isn't that dangerous, leaving them on their own?" Rain asked.

"The Preventors have set up a temporary home for them in Oregon. That's what all the meetings were about. They will assume false identities and stay there for as long as it takes for Robbie to...adjust to the truth about his father. The Changs and the Bartons are there already. They will make sure they're safe." Heero explained.

Rain finally realized why the Bartons and the Changs had not come along for their trip to Japan. They had been busy starting their new secret assignment in Oregon.

When Relena stepped back outside from the office, Rain had to look away. She was still too hurt to face her mother.

"Rain...I'm so sorry." Relena said quietly as she put her hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"It's OK...I understand. I would prefer not to talk about it right now though. Besides, Robbie's headed this way." Rain brushed her mother off and walked outside, trying to fight back the tears that were pooling in her eyes.

"We'll see you later. Good luck in Oregon." Heero said with nothing more than a nod before he left to find Rain.

When Heero finally caught up with his daughter, back at their temporary apartment in the Preventors building, he was not entirely surprised to see she was crying. The fifteen year old girl was curled up on the couch of their apartment with tears streaming from her eyes as silent sobs wracked her body.

"Rain..." Heero said soothingly as he approached her.

"It's not fair...none of it's fair." Rain whispered, shaking her head.

"I know it's hard to deal with...finding out you have a younger brother who's related to Shelly, but it's hard on all of us."

"That's not it. It's not fair that she was going to give up on him for us. It's not fair that she had to choose. And it's not fair that I never got a real chance to have a mother..." Rain rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hand as she spoke.

"Well, now she has all of us. Sure, it will be awkward adding Robbie to the family, but over time we will all get used to it." Heero said, trying to reassure her.

"Why...why can't...why can't I bring her back to life?"

"What do you mean?" Heero seemed surprised by her question.

"I grew up thinking, knowing, that she was killed years ago. And, ever since she's been back, I have tried so hard...but it's as though she is a complete stranger. It's not the same...and I'm scared it never will be."

"Is that how you've felt all this time?" Heero asked, guilt sneaking onto his face.

"Yes..." Rain looked down, feeling bad that she had never told her dad her true feelings about her mother.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Heero sat down beside Rain on the couch with a tired sigh.

"I didn't want to bother you. I know you love her, and...you knew her a lot better than I did. I guess I hoped things would change, but they didn't. And then, when you two started fighting more and more often, I knew I couldn't cause more problems..." Rain explained.

"I'm sorry Rain. I should have paid more attention. It was just you and I for so long...and Relena was such a big part of my life before... I guess I didn't stop to consider your feelings on the matter."

Rain did not answer, she simply continued to cry quietly. Her emotions were overwhelming her. She felt exhausted, but was too high strung to sleep. Heero seemed to notice her stress as he pulled his daughter into his arms and ruffled her hair in an attempt to soothe her.

"I promise, things will be different when we get home. OK? I'll try a lot harder to make this family work." Heero said as he laid his chin atop Rain's head. "I promise..."

-xx-

A little over two months had passed since Rain had met her eleven year old half-brother. Robbie and Relena had returned to LA the first week of September so that Robbie could start at his new junior high school on time.

It had been difficult at first, but Rain and Robbie were slowly growing to like each other. Robbie and Rain had somehow grown more attached in the past month than Rain had to her mother in the past year. Things were a lot different, but it was getting easier as time went by.

Heero had kept his promise about making things work with their family. They had left the Wales home and moved into a new house under a different last name so Shelly would be less likely to track them. With a new house, a new last name, and a new school year, Heero was glad to see the progress the family had made.

Robbie usually came along with Rain and her friends on weekends. Even though he had made a few friends of his own at school, Robbie followed his sister around with a sense of admiration. He had never had an older sibling to look up to before. That, and he loved spending time with Derek. Soon after Robbie and Derek had met, Robbie had chalked Derek up to hero status.

Rain was relieved that Robbie was fitting in. The siblings butted heads every once in a while, but that was mainly because they had been only children for most of their lives.

Even more relieving was the fact that Robbie had come to terms with the truth about his father. The boy had been shocked and appalled to learn some of the terrible things his father had done; kidnapping Relena and leading her to believe she was someone else, stalking Rain. For the sake of his sanity, Relena had left out the part about the attempted rape.

Robbie had bravely accepted the news and tried his best to write his biological father out of his mind. He had never spent very much time with the man anyway. Most of his time had been spent training, with his mother, or away at boarding school. After a short while, Robbie seemed to lighten up to the idea of Heero filling the position as his father. Heero seemed fine with the idea as well. Whether Robbie was his enemy's child or not, he was Relena's child too and that meant Heero had to accept him.

-xx-

October 15th, A.C. 216

At the present time, Rain and Derek were in Derek's room, an old comedy movie was playing on the TV facing the bed. The two teens were wrestling around on the bed, fighting for control of the best pillow. Derek had one of those perfect pillows that people spend years trying to find. It was just the right amount of softness and firmness that even Goldie Locks would have been proud to sleep on.

"Give me the pillow, Yuy."

"No." Rain said as she rolled onto her side with her back to Derek, holding the pillow tightly to her chest.

"Come on! We can share the pillow..." Derek said, flashing his winning Maxwell smile and puppy-eyed look. He kneeled over her and turned her upper body so she was forced to look up at him.

"Don't think you can win me over with that innocent act." Rain said with a smirk.

Placing his hands on either side of her, trying to hold himself up, his smile melted into a devilish grin.

"I could do worse things..." Derek said.

"Like what?" Rain dared him, her eyes flashing with stubborn, yet playful defiance.

"Like this..." Derek said as he lowered his head and met his mouth with hers. With a sigh of defeat, Rain felt her grip loosen on the pillow as she raised her head, deepening the kiss he had started.

Pulling away, for a breath after their mini-makeout session, Derek sat back on his heels, grinning in satisfaction and excitement. He snatched the pillow from Rain's grasp.

"I win." Derek said, flopping down on his stomach, beside Rain with the pillow beneath his head.

"That was a dirty trick." Rain said with a playful look of anger.

"Oh, don't tell me you didn't enjoy it."

"That's not the point!" Rain said, her sentence ending in a giggle as Derek poked her side.

"Sure it is." Derek tickled Rain's side again.

"Oh that's it Maxwell, this means war!" Rain darted up and pounced Derek, swiping the pillow out from under him and hitting him with it.

In self-defense, Derek rolled onto his back and grabbed Rain's arms to keep her from hitting him again. It was at that point, with Rain straddling Derek with her arms raised to hit him again that a knock sounded.

The two teens turned to look as Duo stepped in the doorway.

"ANOTHER pillow fight...? Honestly you two. Hilde and I don't want to be grandparents so young." Duo said with a wild grin, eyeing the teens' current position.

"Anyway... I just came to borrow that movie disc..." Duo said, sidestepping and grabbing a plastic box from atop Derek's dresser before stepping out again. "Carry on."

When the door shut, Derek and Rain shared a look of both amusement and embarrassment before they burst into laughter.

The two teens had been an official couple for three months, but it seemed as though they had been together for years. Even their parents had commented that the pair argued like a married couple. However, as parents go, they were becoming more than a little nervous at how close the two were getting. Especially when they walked in on the most innocent moments that looked as wrong as their current situation.

Standing up on the bed and repositioning her self to where her head was at the foot of the bed, facing the TV, Rain laid down on her stomach. Derek moved to join her, lying on the half of the pillow she offered him. Giving Rain a light kiss on the shoulder, Derek settled next to her to watch the rest of the movie.

-xx-

Christmas Day, December 25th, A.C. 216

"Oneesan, what's wrong?" Robbie asked, walking up to where Rain sat on the front steps of the Yuy house.

Rain had her chin in her hands as she stared off, down the driveway where Derek's car had been half an hour earlier. Wiping stay tears from her eyes, Rain looked up at her younger brother and forced a smile.

"Derek and I had a fight. He got really mad and left." Rain said, trying to keep her voice steady.

"What did you fight about?" Robbie asked, sitting down beside his sister on the concrete steps.

"Just some stupid things... What're you doing out here?" Rain asked, looking behind her in the window at the party she and Derek had left to talk.

"I was worried about you. You and Derek went outside to talk, then you never came back." Robbie said with honest concern.

"Oh. Does anyone else know you're out here?" Rain asked, glancing over her shoulder again.

"No. They're too busy making out or sharing war stories."

"Good." Rain said, her tears had completely subsided. Robbie had an amazing talent for cheering her up without trying.

"So what were you fighting about. It must not have been so stupid if you were crying." Robbie said wisely.

"Hn. Can't keep anything from you can I?" Rain said with a smirk.

"Nope!" Robbie smiled proudly.

"All right... Derek and I were fighting about Jack."

"Why?"

"Well, Jack and I ended up under the mistletoe. And, as tradition goes, we had to kiss." Rain explained.

"And Derek got mad?" Robbie asked, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Yeah."

"But that's stupid! It's tradition. And you wouldn't do that to Derek. And Jack's his best friend!" Robbie said in a rush.

"That's what I said." Rain rolled her eyes.

"Then why did the fight keep going?"

"Because Derek didn't see the mistletoe and assumed that Jack and I had gotten back together while he and his parents were away on L2 last week."

"Why would he think that?"

"I don't know!" Rain threw up her hands in self-defense. "He's been acting really weird lately."

"Hmm..." Robbie looked down in thought. "Maybe he just really really missed you, and was upset that you didn't greet him right away."

"Maybe..."

"Well, don't worry about it! If he has any brain left, he'll apologize real soon. And then you two will be back to normal." Robbie said reassuringly.

"Thanks Otoutou." Rain said with a smile as she wrapped an arm around Robbie's shoulders and gave him a light squeeze.

"No problem. Can we go back in now though? I think Uncle Duo's going to drink all the egg nog."

"Hehe. Sure." Rain stood up and walked back inside with her brother.

"Dad!" Robbie yelled, running up to Heero.

Snapping to attention, Heero glanced down at his hyper eleven year old stepson. In the previous few days, Robbie had taken to calling Heero "dad" instead of his real name. It was still a little odd, but it warmed Heero's heart to hear it too.

"What Robbie?" Heero asked.

"Is there any egg nog left?" Robbie asked as though it were a life-altering question.

"I think your mom hid some in the back of the fridge." Heero answered.

"Great!" Robbie bolted towards the kitchen.

Laughing at her brother's antics, Rain chased after the cricket-like child. It was as she caught up to him in the kitchen that she suddenly realized how much Robbie meant to her. It had only been a few months, but she had come to love her little brother. She would do anything for him. Even if it meant her life.

-End Of Chapter 19-

Author's Notes:

Sorry this is soooo delayed. I just lost all sense of where this story was going. Finally my best friend and muse, Skye, reminded me of how long it had been since my last update. Ah, what are friends for if not to guilt-trip you out of your lazy ways. Hehe.

This story is getting pretty long, I think it's almost finished. Yes, there is an end! I promise! I know it seems to skip around a lot, but it's supposed to be key events in Rain's life. So, it's almost as if someone were recalling key parts of their life after many years.

Anywho, now for dedications, long over due question answers, etc...

Ayame Kouga: I am considering a...whispers sequel... Which would most likely include the Gundam Kids as pilots. But... with great missions, comes the needs for great enemies. I will have to come up with a well strategized plot before I can commit to that.

F-Chan1: Tears? Really? Wow, sorry to scare you so bad. But, I am very glad you like the characters that much.

Cedechan: Glad you think this story is cute. That was my main intention, well, sort of. I intended to write a drama with a few pieces of fluff here and there. Nothing too drastic. Afterall, too much cotton candy can make people sick. ; )

Sarah: I'm sorry for taking so long to update. I hope it isn't too late to save your sanity.

Kiwi-Gurl: Yes, I agree entirely with Chelsea too; they certainly did take a long time to hook up!

Sakura: Glad you like the story. I will try to post the next chapter faster. With the semester almost over, it should get easier to find time to write.

Chibi-Chi: No, how could I kill off Derek! My goodness, without Derek, the whole title of the story would be destroyed!

MC-88: I agree, this story is getting very long. But, no worries, I will wrap it up soon.

Jason Ray: No! Stop! You can't kill Shelly! Only I can do that! Besides, I need him to spice up the plot every now and then.

Heero-Ace: Ah, a Trowa fan I see... well, I really do need to include the Barton family more in this story. I will make sure that Jason makes another appearance in the next chapter.

Two-BitGortez: Thank you, I will try my best to keep providing quality reading material.

Rainyday: Oh, yay, someone sees what I was aiming for! I wanted to write about a story that didn't involve missions. So many continuations I have read include the Gundam Kids becoming pilots! I wanted to write at least one without that stress.

Anakin Fel: Sorry this story has been lacking in action lately. Usually when I work on the chapters it is late at night when my brain's pretty sluggish. The next chapter will have more action for your enjoyment. Even Robbie's gonna kick some ass.

Tiger Shinigami: Yes, I really enjoy tweaking Heero's character into the role of a loving father. Most people see mothers as having more influence on their children, but I thought it would be interesting to explore the character of a child raised solely by her father, a former soldier and emotionless at that.

Japanamationguurl1: No, please, be demanding! I need all the motivation I can get! (Well, that and a little more free-time. Hehe.)

Ilith: Yes, I have been pretty hard on Rain in this story. But, she's gonna be one tough cookie by the end of the story.

lil-jenny: Looky looky! I updated1 Please don't die!

kurleyhawk2: Really? The best GW fanfic you've ever read:hit with a wave of pride: I'm so glad you like it!

Kyubi-Naruto: I updated! You can calm your tortured soul now.

Duos Dark Angel of Death: Yep, Shelly will be making more appearances in this story. As far as kidnapping Rain goes, I don't think Heero or Derek would give him the chance.

sweet plue: Shelly's trying his damnedest to ruin peace on earth, but keeps getting thwarted by the Preventors. As for the romantic lives of the other G-Kids, well, I hinted at in the last chapter, but I will go further into detail in the following one.

PhOeNiX19: In this chapter, I tried to let on a few reasons why Relena's time during capture was so ambiguous. She kept secrets in order to protect her family and her own sanity.

BuShiNiDe: Rain and Derek are together now! Aren't you happy?

Ying Fa: No worries, the historic (in my opinion) Derek/Rain relationship is now alive and slowly taking over the story.

:wipes brow: Whew!

All right, now... Special thanks to the following people for all of your wonderful reviews:

ANGEL20022, Telpei, ashblackraven, Shinimegami-Grimm, silver wolf12, PeachyStix, Yumi-Takekawa, One-Winged Angel6, Rage of BlackMist, Cyara, Amanda Barton, Canis et Loupe, agenki, sweetbaby, Phee and Rorie, Argen Lueda, Tykeria, The Demonic Duo, RowenDuo, Tetsuo-Shima, Golden Rain, sweetangel, Lia Greenleaf, lil'darkangel, miki, Water Fire Girl, dragon, Chris the Majestic1, Serena Yuy, Achika Winner, Mouse, lillie-chan, chrislane, Mother Sin, Angels INC, Duo's Kitty, Mika-cha, Draven Diabella, Tykeria, Mimi, Raven Moonshadow, aya-chan, AznPnay, Katrina, Follow the butterflies, Angel, Diva, Kittieangel,

BubblezGoPop, gwingangels, Kamori Night, Camille1, Magz, Death, bluebaby, Karia Khushrenada, missing girl, Child of the Water, Kanami, Ducky1, BabySnowAngel, AKai Ku, Lady Zero, lily, Inuhanyou Kya, emm,

And a very very very special thanks to:

-my very first reviewer, Leia Avenrose

-jason ray, Heero-Ace, Kiwi-gurl, kiba-tsumemine, ayamekouga, and F-chan1 for labeling me as one of their favorite authors!

:falls back into chair gasping for breath:

Thank you all and good night!

-AlyRain 


	20. Ch 20

Disclaimer :looks around room: Darn, still don't own it.

Glossary of AlyRain's Commonly Used Japanese Terms:

1) Eh-to/ano...: Uhm.  
2) Otoutou: Little brother.  
3) Oneesan: Older sister 4) Otousan: Father 5) Okaasan: Mother 6) Yatta: Yay!  
7) Nani: What?  
8) Hai: Yes 9) Iie: No 10) Honto deshita: Was right or truthful 11) Kami-sama: God, or gods 12) Owari: The End

-Always There For You Chapter 30-

December 29th, A.C. 216

Jason, Chelsea, Jack, and Rain were on the Yuy's back patio, playing a game of poker when Robbie came bursting out the sliding glass door in a flurry of excitement.

"Guess WHAT?" Robbie squeaked.

"What?" Rain asked without looking up from her cards.

"Mekushiko ni ikimasu!" Robbie babbled in Japanese.

"Hm?" Jason said, not understanding much spoken Japanese.

"We're going to Mexico? Why?" Rain asked, that time setting her cards face down on the glass picnic table.

"Uncle Duo said there is a place called San Felipe that has an AWESOME New Year's festival!" Robbie excitedly said as three additional pairs of eyes went to him.

"I thought we were supposed to be hiding out still...?" Rain picked up her cards again as she spoke, tossing a ten dollar chip to the center of the table. "Call."

"We are. But, San Felipe is not very well known. Some Americans tried to make it more eh-tou...urban...? Yah, urban. But, it did not work." Robbie explained.

"Call," Chelsea said, tossing down her own chip. "Is everyone going?"

"Yes. We are all staying with some man named Howard. He owns a hotel on the beach there." Robbie answered.

"I fold." Jason said, dropping his cards.

"A hotel, huh? Cool." Jack said, grinning.

Rain's father chose that moment to step outside and scold Robbie.

"Robbie, they are playing cards. Tell them about Mexico later." Heero said, smirking at his stepson's enthusiasm.

"Hai." Robbie looked down at the ground and followed Heero back inside the house.

"So much energy." Jack remarked, his grin still going full-blast.

"Yeah... I'm bored with cards. You three want to play something else?" Rain asked.

The foursome had been playing cards for nearly two hours straight. No particular person was really winning either. They were all ready to call it quits.

"EEEP!" Chelsea squeaked as Jason poked her in the ribs.

"I don't even want to know." Jack said. He shook his head at the two.

"Do you always assume the worst?" Rain asked.

"No that's Derek." Jack said with a frown.

"Hey where is your right leg anyway?" Chelsea joked.

"Who knows. He is still avoiding me." Rain replied. She collected the poker chips and returned them to their wooden case.

"Wow. It's been two whole days. This is serious." Jason said with a smirk. "What did you do to him anyway?"

"As he put it, I cheated on him." Rain grumbled. She was still frustrated at Derek's stubbornness about the whole situation.

'What?" Jason asked, his eyebrows raised.

"I kissed Rain under the mistletoe. I did not realize he would get so anal about it." Jack explained.

"But that is tradition..." Jason said.

"We know." Rain and Jack chorused.

"Maybe you should call him, Rain." Chelsea supplied with a sympathetic look.

"And do what? Grovel?" Rain exclaimed.

"It would be a good start." Came a snide reply.

Rain whirled around to see Derek standing just outside the patio door.

"What are YOU doing here? I thought you were avoiding me...?" Rain scowled in Derek's direction.

"I was..." Derek glanced at Chelsea, Jason, and Jack who had suddenly become interested in their card game again.

"So...?" Rain pressed, her anger still present.

"Robbie called me. He said I should talk to you before we ruin the Mexico trip." Derek said.

"OK then. Apologize already." Rain said.

"Apologize? ME? I did not do anything! YOU are the one who kissed another guy!" Derek yelled.

"Oh for fuck's sake! I already told you: it meant NOTHING! It's tradition! You are still overreacting!" Rain yelled back.

"Are they always this stubborn?" Jason whispered.

"Yup." Chelsea whispered back.

"If it was just TRADITION, why did you look so embarrassed?" Derek growled.

"I don't know, maybes because it WAS embarrassing! I have never kissed anyone other than you!"

"Yeah. Sure."

Rain could almost hear something snapping in her brain. It was as though Derek had been blindly punching a wall searching for a light switch and had suddenly found it, destroying what little self-control Rain had had over her rage.

"You know what? I am so sick of your possessiveness! You think you OWN me and you will not believe ANYTHING I say to you. So FUCK YOU Derek Maxwell!" Rain screamed.

Three pairs of eyebrows raised at that last part. No one ever thought Rain would address Derek with such vehement anger.

Angry tears were welling in Rain's eyes. Her entire body was shaking with anger. It hurt her more than anything, not being trusted by someone she loved.

Derek's anger was slightly alleviated at the sight of Rain's tears. He wondered if he really had gone too far. They were not animals. There had to be a more civilized way to settle things.

"Rain..." Derek began calmly.

"Get out." Rain said quietly. She was choked with anger and tears.

"But-" Derek began again.

"Get the HELL OUT!" Rain screamed, finding her voice again.

Screw civilities. Derek was frustrated again. There was no reasoning with Rain.

"Fine!" Derek yelled back. He stormed into the house, slamming the patio door so hard, Chelsea wondered if it would shatter.

"That went well." Jason said with a sigh.

"Yeah..." Chelsea and Jack chorused.

Rain could not hear them. She could only hear Derek words and her own voice screaming back at him. The Yuy girl fell on her rear and buried her face in her hands. Angry sobs wracked her entire body. In that moment, Rain hated Derek Maxwell; she hated him for leaving.

-xx-

December 29th, A.C. 216

Rain was bored. There was one thing her parents had not clarified about San Felipe: it was 200 kilometers away from civilization. For an hour, Rain had been staring out the window at a shrub-infested desert.

The two-laned highway from Mexicali to San Felipe was a dusty, dipping road that wound around the mountains, through the desert. It was a rather depressing area.

Rain's parents were not helping much either. Heero and Relena were both busy conversing with Hilde and Duo, seated in the front, about the history of San Felipe and sharing stories about "Howard". Rain was lost. She had never heard of Howard before, nor did she know anything about San Felipe.

It was possibly the twentieth time that Rain wished she had chosen to ride with Chelsea. Her best friend was riding with Jason and Mei Li in Jack's car. There was not really enough room for a fifth person in a four-seater.

At first, Rain had not minded. Chelsea and Jason still had not become a couple and Rain wanted them to have a little quality time together. And yet, Rain regretted agreeing to ride with her parents.

Hell, she would have even preferred riding in Derek's jeep with Robbie and the younger Chang and Barton children. And that was desperation. Being in the same vehicle with Derek was not exactly on Rain's Top Ten List of things to do.

Rain glanced over her shoulder at the vehicle behind them. A dark blue SUV containing the Peacecraft family and the Wales parents was not far behind the Maxwells' black SUV.

The Yuy daughter wondered how far behind in their little caravan Chelsea was. To the best of her memory, Derek was behind the Peacecrafts. Then, the Chang and Barton parents were following in Sally's white luxury sedan. Jack's silver sedan had been bringing up the rear. Her best friend was so close yet, so far, it was utterly frustrating.

It still amazed Rain, in spite of her frustration and boredom, that her family had been able to arrange such an event in so little time. The six families had decided in just a few days: how many vehicles to bring, how many rooms to reserve, and how long the trip would take. The adults had gone about the whole thing as though they were strategizing for a battle. It had amused Rain during the meeting held at the Yuy home.

A sign passed by Rain's field of vision. It read that San Felipe was a mere twenty kilometers away. The trip had started near dawn that day. Rain felt as though they had been on the road for weeks. She had never realized how far San Felipe was from L.A.

-xx-

Thirty minutes later, Rain was helping the large group carry the plethora of luggage inside the "Casa Naranjado Hotel". The building was a large, dusty-orange color; five stories tall with one side facing East, overlooking the San Felipe Beach.

Compared to the rather run down looking places in the town four kilometers down the beach, the hotel was not half bad. And Howard, the gray-haired, Hawaiian shirt-clad owner was quite amiable.

Rain had informally met Howard when her family had first arrived at the hotel. Howard, who was in his late seventies, early eighties, had been sitting on the side patio, drinking coffee when they pulled in. He had jumped up from his seat and rushed over to greet everyone before helping unload luggage.

As Howard explained, he had known Heero and Duo from back in the Eve Wars. Rain wondered if the man had any stories about her father to share. Heero had never mentioned Howard before.

Making several trips to and fro, the six families finally had all of their luggage in their various hotel rooms. The former gundam pilots and their families took up nearly the entire East wing of the fifth floor.

The East, beach-facing side of the fifth floor had ten rooms, each with its own balcony. Duo had reserved seven of those ten rooms. Each pair of adults had their own room. Then, the younger children were sharing rooms with their parents. The teens however, had bargained for two rooms of their own.

Rain was delighted to share a room with Mei Li and Chelsea rather than her own family. It was also fun being on their own for a change. It was the way Rain imagined college life would be for them in a couple years.

"So I see you survived the trip?" Chelsea teased as Rain half-flopped and half-collapsed on one of the double beds.

"Barely. I was so BORED! They talked about Howard and San Felipe's history the ENTIRE trip!" Rain exclaimed.

Chelsea laughed and walked outside onto the balcony.

"Aww. Poor baby." Mei Li said, patting Rain on the head. "Hey Chelsea, how is the view?"

"Great!" Chelsea called.

"What is so great about it? The sun set is on the other side of the building." Rain said, climbing to her feet and following Mei Li out, onto the balcony.

"Oh." Rain said when she saw the group of college-age looking boys playing frisbee on the beach.

Mei Li shared a grin with Chelsea. Rain whistled a little too loudly. The trio dashed back into their room as five heads turned in their direction.

"This is going to be an awesome weekend." Chelsea said with a Maxwell Cheshire Cat grin.

-xx-

It was nearly seven p.m. on the pacific coast when the six families finally ate dinner. Rain was famished. The last time she had eaten was around ten a.m. at a fast food joint the caravan had stopped at along the way.

Hunger sometimes made Rain hyperactive. That day was one of those times. The rickety elevators were not working so Rain and Jack decided to race down opposite sets of staircases. Rain was clambering down the metal and concrete staircase at breakneck speed, determined to beat Jack.

Breathing hard and rushed with excitement, Rain crashed into an unexpected bystander on the third floor landing. Without enough warning to stop herself, Rain had smashed into the person's backside, sending them both careening into the back wall and knocking the other person to the floor.

"Oh! I am SO sorry!" Rain exclaimed, stepping back to survey the damage she had done to the guy.

After dusting himself off and standing, the boy looked down at Rain and, to her relief, smiled. He was nearly a foot taller than the Yuy girl and had to adjust the angle of his baseball cap to get a decent view of her face.

"Were you being chased?" The guy asked with a light laugh.

"No... I was racing a friend." Rain admitted bashfully.

"Well, in that case, I 'm sorry I held you up."

"No, not at all. I'm sorry for knocking you down." Rain bowed her head in apology. She felt like an even greater idiot when she recognized him as one of the frisbee players from earlier.

"So, where are you racing to?" The boy asked, leaning casually against the wall behind himself.

"The restaurant downstairs."

"Mind if I walk, or run, down there with you?"

"Uhm...sure." Rain said, uncertainty temporarily fogging her brain.

The pair continued down the last few flights of stairs at a quick pace. They made introductions and small talk along the way.

"I'm Brandon." The guy said that simply. Rain felt a wave of annoyance slide through her at the sound of his name. She still recalled being bullied by a boy named Brandon in junior high and elementary school.

Pushing all ill-seeded thoughts from her mind, Rain smiled back at Brandon. It would have been difficult to explain the disliking of his name.

"Rain."

"Cool name."

"Thank you."

The pair chatted all the way to the first floor restaurant. Rain learned that one of Brandon's other friends, Tom, had family with a holiday home in San Felipe. The house was small, so Brandon and his three other friends were sharing a hotel room rather than crowd out Tom's family. The Yuy teen was delighted to discover the frisbee players were seniors in high school and freshman in college; not too much older than herself. They were visiting from Santa Cruz, California. Rain would happily report that information to Mei Li and Chelsea after dinner.

By the time Brandon and Rain entered the restaurant, Rain had completely forgotten about Jack. He, however, was glad to remind her he had been waiting.

"Damn, I thought you had fallen down the stairs! What took you so long?" Jack asked as Rain and Brandon stepped into the restaurant. He had been waiting by the door to boast about his speed as soon as Rain arrived.

"Have you been waiting that long?" Rain asked. Innocence was written all over her face.

"Long enough." Jack said, eyeing Brandon.

"It's my fault. I was in the way and Rain and I had a bit of a tumble." Brandon said with a good-natured smile.

That made Jack's eyebrows rise. Rain felt her cheeks warm with embarrassment.

"Really?" Jack asked and Rain nodded.

"I made her walk with me the rest of the way. I'm sorry she is late." Brandon continued.

"It's fine." Jack said, though he was narrowing his eyes slightly at Brandon.

"I should find my friends. I will see you later Rain." Brandon said, heading into the restaurant.

"Yeah." Rain said with a smile.

When Brandon was out of earshot and siting with his friends across the restaurant, Jack put one hand on Rain's back and guided her to the opposite side where their families were waiting.

"Are you crazy? What if Derek saw you? Do you want to make things worse?" Jack hissed.

"Oh shut up, Jack. Derek and I are not together anymore. And, it's not MY fault if he gets jealous. He has possessiveness issues." Rain hissed back.

"Rain, he feels really guilty about that. He and I are cool again. And he's tried talking to you about it, but you keep avoiding him! Can't you two just kiss and make up?" Jack asked, frustration evident in his tone.

"Maybe I don't want to kiss and make up." Rain growled. It was hard to deal with the best friend of your ex-boyfriend. Some days she wanted to maim the both of them.

At dinner, Rain avoided Jack and Derek. Essentially, she avoided her friends all together, choosing to sit with her aunt and uncle instead. It was much easier to deal with her two hyper cousins than with her potentially nosy friends.

-xx-

That night, on the way up to their room, Chelsea cornered Rain and interrogated her. It was not everyday that Rain avoided sitting with her closest female friend.

"OK, Rain, now speak! Why were you late and why didn't you sit with me?" Chelsea asked while they ascended the stairs to their room.

"I'm sorry Chels. I wasn't really avoiding you. I was avoiding the misery twins." Rain said with a frown.

"I know the problem with Derek, but what did Jack do?" Confusion was on Chelsea's face.

"Jack and I were racing down the two staircases."

'Why?" Chelsea laughed as if that statement had been the answer to everything she had just asked.

"Boredom." Rain shrugged. "Anyway, I smashed into one of the frisbee players on the way down."

"Ouch." Chelsea winced sympathetically at Rain's obviously embarrassing episode.

"Yeah. Well, after he stood back up, we got to talking and he walked down to the restaurant with me."

"Uh-huh..."

"Jack was waiting for me and proceeded to bitch at me, saying Derek would be mad if he saw me talking to Brandon. Then he said something about Derek feeling guilty and how we need to 'kiss and make up'." Rain concluded.

"Wow. I forgive you. Jack tries too hard when is comes to Derek. Want me to kill him for you?" Chelsea grinned.

"No. My problems are no excuse for you to exterminate your brother." Rain shook her head and smiled.

"Damn. Oh well." Chelsea shrugged. "Honestly though, as much as I miss the Rain-Derek thing, you should be allowed to do what YOU want."

"Thanks Chels."

"It's what I am here for chica. Well, that and the perks." Chelsea's smile turned smug.

"Perks?" Rain said dubiously.

"Yeah. Brandon has friends does he not?"

"Yeah." Rain giggled.

"So, be a good friend and share!"

"What about Jason?"

"Hmm. Well... Jason is not seeming as interested lately. That, and I think he secretly wants Mei Li." Chelsea said, opening the door leading out of the stairwell.

"Really? I'm sorry. I don't think he wants Mei Li though." Rain said. She followed Chelsea into the hall.

"Why not?'

"They act too much like siblings."

"Oh."

The two girls had to cease their conversation as Mei Li and the three boys appeared from the opposite end on the hall. Mei Li ran to join Chelsea and Rain.

"Hey." Mei Li greeted.

"Hey." Chelsea echoed.

"We have decided that I am sharing a bed with you." Rain said, making up a topic that she and Chelsea had "already discussed".

"OK. Why?" Mei Li asked, smiling through her confusion.

"Chels always steals all the blankets. And she rolls over and takes over the whole bed." Rain said with a smirk.

"Really." Mei Li asked, laughing lightly.

Chelsea simply shrugged and smiled. She had no shame in her unconscious bed-hogging ways.

"What do you think they are talking about this time?" Jason asked, walking between Jack and Derek, several feet behind the three girls.

"College guys." Jack said with a frown.

"Parties." Derek added. He seemed to catch something in Jack's voice and raised an eyebrow at him. "College guys?"

"Just guessing." Jack lied.

"Hn." Derek responded as he watched the trio of females disappear into their room next door. He silently vowed that one way or the other, he would be back on speaking terms with Rain before they left Mexico.

-xx-

The following afternoon, Chelsea and Rain decided to venture out to the beach. It was, they decided, the best way to spend the few hours of daylight. Of course, they lived right near the beach at home, but the San Felipe beach was practically deserted, something the beaches of California were not.

That close to winter solstice, there was hardly enough sunlight to get much of a tan. And, the wind chill was too low to simply sit in the sand anyway. Therefore, the pair of females decided on walking North to the town, just visible on the edge of the coastline.

The trek to the town was not too difficult. There was a slope to the beach and the cool wind raked sand and salt across their faces, but it was well worth the view. With the sun reflecting on the water, the wind making rivers in the sand of the quiet, nearly abandoned beach, and the mountains framing it on either end, it looked to Rain, like something fresh off a postcard. She wondered why so few people were there.

The fact that it was an oasis was a likely reason. Rain recalled all too well the two-hundred kilometer drive through nothingness it had taken to arrive at that pretty little beach. It was so different from the loud, bustling life in California, that Rain was overcome with a great feeling of serenity. The hardships that had befallen her family only a few months ago seemed like a half-forgotten dream when she listened to the wind racing along the sand.

"Nice isn't it?"

Rain jumped at the unexpected voice behind her. She had been so entrapped in the view of the water as the sun dazzled its surface that she had not noticed Brandon and one of his friends stopping their afternoon jog to say hello to the girls. Nor had she noticed that Chelsea was suddenly captivated in a conversation with his jogging partner.

"It's a lot different from Cali." Rain admitted, looking Brandon over. He looked great, as usual, clad in a t-shirt and a baggy pair of gym shorts. His hat was gone, giving Rain a much better view of the wavy mess that was his dark brown hair. An uncomfortable feeling coursed through Rain. She wondered, just why Brandon had ceased his afternoon athletics to come speak with her. It was not as though they were old friends or anything.

Brandon seemed to have sensed Rain's discomfort. And, he quickly squashed it by giving her a warm smile.

"Tom and I were just heading back. I saw you and your friend and I thought I would introduce you..." Brandon began, following Rain's gaze to where Tom, an equally gorgeous boy in similar attire, was laughing lightly about something Chelsea had said.

"He seems to have introduced himself." Rain mused.

"Tom's not really the shy type." Brandon agreed. He seemed to have remembered something important, because his smile suddenly fell into a slight frown. "I also wanted to apologize."

"For what?" Rain asked, temporarily taking her gaze away from Chelsea and Tom.

"For getting you in trouble with your boyfriend." Brandon said.

"You mean Jack? He's not my boyfriend. He's Chelsea's older brother. And, sometimes, he thinks he's mine too." Rain said with a shrug as she glanced at Chelsea again.

"Oh. I see." Brandon said, but Rain doubted he really knew what it was like to have an overprotective brother who you were not even related too.

After another long, rather awkward moment of silence, Brandon regained his friendly smile.

"So, are you going to the festival in town, or does your family have other plans for New Year's?" Brandon asked casually.

"I think we're going to the festival. I'm trying to find a way out of it though." Rain said, frowning again. After seeing how run down the town was, she doubted their New Year's festival would be that exciting. Even though Duo promised her the town was far more alive on New Year's than it had been the day before.

"Well, if you want to, or can manage to break away, Tom's campo is having a party." Brandon said, referring to the little community of American owned homes closely neighboring the Casa Naranjado.

"That might be fun." Rain said, picturing in her mind, a group of teens and young adults dancing on the sand, drinking beers, having a grand old time while fireworks lit up the sky. She knew Derek would be furious with her for going to such a party with this boy she had only known for two days. That is why she had every intention of doing just that.

Suddenly, it dawned on Rain that she was being an unfair friend, by Chelsea's standards anyway. It was unfair for Rain to plan on partying with a cute guy from Santa Cruz without securing Mei Li and Chelsea dates and invitations to the same party.

Glancing at Chelsea, Rain figured Tom was already inviting her to the New Year's bash the following night. Rain simply had to worry about Mei Li. Even if Mei Li had decided to stay back at the hotel with Jason instead of going with Rain and Chelsea-furthering Chelsea's suspicions about Mei Li and Jason being an item-Rain couldn't hold out on the Chang daughter.

"I can only go on one condition." Rain said, smiling smugly.

"What's that?" Brandon said, raising an eyebrow.

"I want to bring my friend, Mei Li, too. And, I want to know if you have any other single friends who would like a date."

"I'm sure Caleb would love to meet her."

Rain hoped Mei Li would be delighted to meet Caleb as well. It would be quite fortunate if Caleb turned out to be one of the other fribee players they had seen.

That was all the convincing Rain needed. The hard part was escaping their families in order to go to the campo party. And even harder still, Rain knew, would be getting past Derek and Jack.

After they had worked out the details, deciding that meeting at the party rather than Brandon escorting them would be easier, the four teens parted ways. Tom and Brandon resumed their jog while Rain and Chelsea continued their peaceful beach walk.

"So," Chelsea began when the two boys were long gone, "how are we going to get past Jack and Derek?"

It was a good question, Rain reasoned. They could easily ditch their parents in town since they would be preoccupied with the younger kids. Derek and Jack, however, had for the past two days, been watching Rain like a hawk. The only way she had managed to get out of the hotel without speaking to either of them was because they had left while Jack was in the shower and Derek was distracted by the ever-energetic Robbie.

"Get lost in the crowd." Rain answered. It was entirely too simple of a solution. How were Derek and Jack to keep track of the three girls during the busiest tourist day of San Felipe's Winter Season.

"Good enough." Chelsea said with a grin.

-xx-

There was one slight problem in Chelsea and Rain's planning. Jack had somehow overheard Mei Li and Chelsea on the way back to their rooms after dinner the following night. They had been excitedly going over their ideas about what the party would be like. And Jack, being Derek's best friend and none too happy with the girls, had no problems telling him everything he had overheard about their plans for the party as well as confessing about what he had witnessed the first evening in San Felipe.

Derek, was furious. The thing that got to Jack though, was Derek wasn't mad about Rain hooking up with other guys. He was not mad that Rain was also planning to sneak off with some new guy. No, Derek was angry because Rain was still a minor and Rain, had agreed to go to a party that probably involved heavy drinking and rather indecent activities he did not even want to imagine.

What happened next was not so surprising. Derek, with Jason and Jack on his heels, stormed into the girls room and demanded to know exactly, "what they were doing going to a college party?"

Rain, instantly defensive, told him off. It was the first time Derek had spoken to her in two days, and she was none too appreciative of his current bitchiness. That and, as she reasoned, it was none of his business what they chose to do anyway.

It weighed heavily on Rain's guilt and patience, seeing Derek so stark raving mad about the whole party idea. At first, she thought he was just jealous, as usual. But, as his rant simmered down to calm tones about what this, "college bum", might do to her the second he got the chance. Derek, whom Rain was trying very hard to hate that particular week, had taken her completely off guard with his display of concern.

The world just wasn't fair, Rain decided. She wanted so badly to stay mad at Derek. Yet, what he was calmly saying at that particular moment made sense. Rain was putting herself in a bad position. Brandon was not an old friend of hers, she really had no idea how he would act with a few beers in his system.

Then again, Rain reasoned once more, she was her father's daughter. And she, Rain, could take care of herself. Which, she immediately pointed out, glad to have another reason to be pissed at him again. The sexist jerk, assuming that they, the daughters of three former gundam pilots, who had taken on far worse people in life, should be swayed by a few inebriated college guys.

Originally, it had been the three boys lecturing the three girls. What it had become however, was another all out war between Derek and Rain. Jason and Jack, having made compromises with the two girls, had left the room, hoping Derek would soon follow. When he did not even notice their departure, the two teen boys decided to wait in their room for him to explain what had been decided.

"Rain, I know you are angry with me. And I know you want more than anything to disagree with anything I say to you. But, please don't go to that party alone." Derek said, now completely calm, even though Rain was still steaming.

Chelsea and Mei Li, bored with the incessant argument they'd already settled with Jack and Jason, escaped to the balcony to stargaze. With the glass door closed, they hoped that they would not be able to hear any further yelling Rain or Derek produced.

"I'm not going alone. I'm going with Chelsea and Mei Li. And I can take care of myself. It's not like I am going to a party hosted by Trey Shelly!" Rain growled.

"Chelsea and Mei Li might get distracted. You will end up in some dark corner, alone, and trapped. And then what Rain?" Derek asked.

"I can take care of myself." Rain repeated. Although, in the back of her mind, Rain knew that it would not be that way. If Rain were cornered, by a member of the opposite sex and was threatened, she would freeze up. Even before Shelly had attacked her, when cornered, Rain had found herself unable to use any of the self-defense techniques she had acquired throughout her lifetime.

And Derek knew it, Rain realized. Derek had rescued Rain when she was cornered by bullies in junior high and elementary school. Jack had saved her from the perverse intentions of Shelly. So many times, Rain had needed Derek to save her sorry butt. It was frustrating, having to be rescued all the time. Yet, frustrated as she was, Rain finally saw Derek's point.

"I'll think about it." Rain said in a low, angry voice. She shepherded Derek out the door as best she could, trying not to let him see that he had hit a nerve.

As Derek stopped in the doorway, he gave one last, wistful look at Rain, who was holding the door, preparing to close it.

"I love you Rain, I don't want you to get hurt." Derek said, sincerely.

"Touching." Rain said sarcastically, before shutting the door in his face. As soon as she did, however, Rain wiped at her eyes and fought very hard, not to cry.

-xx-

"Rain, you made it!" Brandon said, smiling down at the Yuy girl.

"Yeah. Sorry we're a bit late. It took longer than expected to ditch." Rain explained.

"You haven't missed much." Brandon gave a careless shrug.

Rain however, disagreed with him. The party was already in full swing. Music was blasting from a stereo system wired into the covered bar. A large group of teens and young adults were dancing in the sand beneath the strands of outdoor Christmas lights zig-zaging between the covered bar and closest two houses. It was odd and beautiful. Even the cacti in the peoples' yards had lights wrapped around their tall, spiny trunks.

There were people of all varying ages attending the barbecue bash. The younger ones, teens and young adults were dancing and mingling while the older adults, in their forties and up, seemed to be staying on the edges, eating, drinking beers, and conversing.

Before Rain realized it, Chelsea and Mei Li had left to dance with Tom and, who Rain assumed was Caleb, down on the beach. She felt suddenly odd, standing alone with Brandon in he shadows of a low-branched, bushy palm tree.

Brandon turned out not to be the kind of guy Derek thought. He did not take advantage of their current position, but instead, eased Rain out of the shadows, towards the covered bar where there were several coolers of both alcohol and soda.

"What would you like?" Brandon asked, innocence written on his face.

Perhaps she had been wrong, maybe he figured she needed to be intoxicated before he could make a serious move on her.

"I'm afraid, the only thing you can have is soda or water. Tom's aunt is quite strict about the minors not drinking."

"That's fine. I don't drink." Rain said, wondering if Brandon was disappointed about Tom's aunt's rules.

"I don't either."

It was as Brandon said that, that Rain decided she was sick of listening to Derek Maxwell. So far, Brandon had turned out to be nothing like Derek said. He was honest, sober, and had yet to make any inappropriate passes at her.

No, Brandon was not one Rain should have worried about. But, Tom, his buddy was another story. Tom, had already had a few beers. Apparently, being related to the hostess made him feel less guilty about rule-breaking.

-xx-

Chelsea was lost in her own world of thoughts. She was dancing awkwardly with Tom, all the while thinking about Jason. In the back of her mind, she could not stop thinking about the fact that he may indeed like Mei Li.

"Is something wrong?"

"Hmm?" Chelsea forced herself to focus on the dark-haired, well-built, college-hotty, in front of her.

"You jut seem rather distracted. I'm sorry if you feel awkward." Tom said, smiling in a friendly manner.

"No, it's not you, not even this party. It's just...some stuff." Chelsea forced herself to smile back at him.

"Anyone in particular?" Tom smirked.

"How...why do you say that?" Chelsea asked, trying to get her eyebrows back to their normal position on her forehead.

"Well, he's been watching you for about fifteen minutes now..." Tom nodded to his right.

Turning to look over her left-shoulder, Chelsea saw Jason leaning against one of poles holding the roof over the covered bar. His facial expression was nearly blank except for his eyes. The Barton boy's near-green eyes were eagle-sharp.

"Oh...That's...just Jason, a family friend." Chelsea said, turning back to face Tom, still watching Jason out of the corner of one eye.

Tom leaned in close to Chelsea, his face nearly touching hers. Chelsea felt her heartbeat speed up. Her self-defenses had kicked in. Tom was invading her personal bubble, big time.

"I don't think he's just a family friend..." Tom said huskily, his wicked smirk returning to his face. He gave the shorter girl a quick peck on the lips before she could react.

Chelsea had noticed at the same time as Tom had that Jason was not happy with their close-contact. Jason was visibly angry. He was no longer leaning against the pole. Instead, the tall boy was clenching his fists at his sides, his jaw twitching as he fought back strong emotions.

"See what I mean?" Tom backed away from Chelsea and chuckled. The girl was relieved to have some personal space back. However, her heart rate had only sped even more at the sight of Jason's anger.

Confused and frustrated, Chelsea brought her gaze back to Tom. What game was he trying to play? Did all guys need to have competition? And what business did Tom have invading her space like that anyway? It was not as though Chelsea had given him any incentive to kiss her.

"What were you do-" Chelasea was about to tell Tom off when she was cut off by Jason at her side.

"Excuse me, may I cut in?" Jason asked, glaring daggers at Tom.

"By all means." Tom smiled wickedly as he stepped further away from Chelsea. "Have fun kiddo."

With a slight wave, Tom walked off in the direction of his aunt's house. Chelsea did not care where he was going or what he was going to do. Her full attention at that moment was on Jason.

"I'm...Why are you mad?" Chelsea was unsure whether to apologize to Jason or punch him. First he had completely stopped returning her signs of affection. And then he had gotten pissed off at her for dancing with and seemingly kissing another guy. Chelsea could not quite figure the boy out.

"I'm not mad." Jason said, obviously trying to keep his face void of emotion.

"Bullshit." Chelsea called his bluff.

"Hn." Jason sighed and looked down at the ground.

"Well?" Chelsea prompted, folding her arms over her chest and frowning up at the taller boy.

"All right. So I was a little pissed off that you kissed that guy." Jason said, moving his gaze to meet Chelsea's eyes.

"Why?" Chelsea asked, eyebrow quirked and lips pressed caught between a smirk and a smile.

"I was jealous." Jason admitted.

"Wow...you said that pretty easily." Chelsea said, frowning.

"Well, it's the truth. I don't intend to lie about it."

"What about Mei Li?" Chelsea asked, having trouble keeping the taller boy's gaze as emotions churned her stomach.

"What about Mei Li?" Jason said in return.

"Don't you like her?" Chelsea asked.

"That's what Rain meant?" Jason asked, surprised.

"Huh?" Chelsea felt more confused than ever.

"Rain...she said something about Chelsea...I wasn't really paying attention...I thought she had meant you didn't want to steal me from Mei Li..."

"No!" Chelsea exclaimed. "I mean...no." She said again, that time controlling her tone. "I thought you had a crush on Mei Li because of the way you two act around each other..."

"I don't like Mei Li. She's like...my sister, only not. It's a strange relationship I'll admit." Jason said, smiling.

"So...?" Chelsea trailed off, at a loss for words after that revelation.

"So, I like you, not Mei Li." Jason said, smiling at the platinum blond before him.

"Really?" Chelsea felt a slight blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Truly." Jason replied.

Chelsea smiled. She was far too happy at that moment to consider mutilating her best friend for the whole mix-up.

"Can we dance now?" Jason asked, gesturing around them at the couples dancing closely together. Chelsea had only then realized that they had been standing, unmoving amongst the group of dancers on the beach for a long time.

"Of course." Chelsea wrapped her arms around Jason's shoulders at the same time as he leaned down to hold her around the waist. Laying her head against Jason's strong chest, Chelsea felt herself drift away with the slow song pouring from the speakers near the bar.

"Oh, and Chelsea...?" Jason said, rousing the girl from her dreamy state.

"Hmm?" Chelsea lifted her head and looked up at Jason.

"Please don't kill Rain."

"What? But I wasn't!" Chelsea said quickly, denying her brief, homicidal thoughts towards her best friend.

"It wasn't her fault. I should have listened more carefully." Jason said in Rain's defense.

"Oh...all right. But, ONLY because you asked." Chelsea said jokingly.

"Fine." Jason laughed lightly.

Chelsea giggled and laid her head back against Jason's chest. To her left she saw Mei Li and her brother Jack dancing in a similar fashion. Glad that her friend had finally reclaimed her rather untamable brother, Chelsea smiled. The girl could only hope that a certain Yuy and Maxwell had found each other as well.

-xx-

"Hey, who's that?" Brandon asked, looking in the direction of the dancers on the beach.

"Who's who?" Rain asked, trying her best to follow her host's gaze into the crowd.

"The guy with your friend Chelsea."

That's when Rain spotted the Wales daughter and the Barton boy having a rather heated discussion amongst the other dancers on the beach.

"Oh, that's Jason. He's Chelsea's would-be boyfriend." Rain explained.

"Would-be?" Brandon asked.

"Yeah... Old family friends...tends to make things complicated"

"I see." Brandon said, smiling at the pair.

"Hey, Rain." Mei Li accosted from Rain's left.

"Oh, hey Mei Li." Rain smiled when she saw her friend. "What's up?"

"Uhm...not too much. I just wanted to let you know that I found Jack and...he and I are going to go for a walk along the beach." Mei Li said, all smiles.

"Ooh, sounds romantic." Rain teased.

"Yeah... well, he'll be escorting me home later, so I will see you back in the room OK?"

"Sure. Have fun." Rain said.

"Thanks you too. See you later Brandon." Mei Li said, bowing slightly in Brandon's direction.

"Bye." Brandon and Rain chorused as Mei Li walked off to join with Jack at the edge of the covered bar.

"I guess things didn't work out with Caleb either." Brandon said, smiling even though both of his friends had obviously been brushed off.

"Hm. Sorry." Rain smiled apologetically.

"Not your fault. Some people just don't click." Brandon shrugged good-naturedly.

"True." Rain agreed.

-xx-

Tom was an unexpected, and unwelcome interruption of Rain's conversation with Brandon under the same palm tree as before, near the back edge of Tom's aunt's house. After Jason had materialized at the party and had apparently swept Chelsea off her feet, the Wales girl seemed to care less where her drunken host had wandered off to.

Mei Li, who had forgotten her returned for her sandals before her walk with Jack, had been kind enough to explain to Rain why Jason had appeared. While Rain and Derek had been battling things out, Mei Li, Chelsea, Jack, and Jason, had agreed that the boys could follow and, for lack of a better term, supervise.

Supervising must have gotten old and the girls must have remembered their attractions to their family friends since Caleb was off with some other random blonde girl and Tom was invading Rain's airspace with alcohol-reaping breath. Derek, however, was no where to be found. Jack had said he had arrived with him at the party, but he had lost track of the other boy.

Rain hoped that meant he had left, just as she hoped Tom would find someone else to bother. Brandon, being the innocent, friendly guy he was, did not mind Tom's presence. Perhaps, Rain thought, he was used to his buddy getting ditched and then interrupting his own dates.

After a while of Tom actively participating in their conversation about reattempted construction on the moon, Rain started to ease up to his presence. He had consumed alcohol, yes, but he was quite smart and Rain was surprised the alcohol had not slowed his mental capabilities very much. Ah, the drunken genius. How was it possible for such a bright person to have such a high alcohol tolerance?

Caleb, as it turned out, had a horrible alcohol tolerance. And so, after having snuck a few beers from the house, he could barely walk straight. Brandon, reminding her more and more of Jack and Chelsea's kind-hearted father, had taken it upon himself to return Caleb to the hotel.

Of course, Brandon had offered to take Rain with them, rather than leave her there, but Rain did not want to leave without Chelsea, even if it was only for a little while. So, Brandon had promised to return soon and left Rain alone in the care of his brilliant, slightly tipsy friend who Rain had decided was not so bad.

"I think Brandon is too innocent for his own good." Tom said, quite randomly.

"What do you mean?" Rain asked, shifting her weight as she leaned against the wall of the house. There was no reason for the hairs on the back of Rain's neck to prickle. There certainly was no reason for her pulse to suddenly speed up or her breathing to become erratic. Tom was Brandon's friend. Brandon trusted Tom to take care of her while he helped Caleb.

It was only too late, that Rain realized, she was trapped against the back wall of the house, hidden by the low branches of the palm trees. And worst of all, she was too far away from the party for anyone to hear her if she screamed.

"He shouldn't have left you. He does that a lot. But when things happen, when rumors get around, he never believes any of them." Tom continued, stepping far too close to Rain for comfort. He put his hands on either side of her mid-torso, towering over her and blocking her in at the same time.

In her mind, Rain was screaming to do something, anything. But, she was paralyzed with fear, as usual. Rain pictured Derek then, pictured him worrying about her, and for the first time, Rain's fear turned to anger.

With a sudden jerk of motion, Rain kneed Tom in the gut just as he was about to kiss her. Tom, big strong jock Tom, had a great recovery time though. Rain barely had a split-second's freedom before Tom grabbed her and threw her against the wall, pinning her hands on either side of her head. He leaned his body against hers, his weight preventing her from moving or breathing properly.

"That, was not playing nice. You're the first girl who actually got a solid hit. I must be losing my touch." Tom said as though he were telling Rain the weather. He nuzzled her hair and Rain felt a wave of revulsion course through her.

"Get off me you PIG!" Rain seethed. She had just wriggled one leg free was about to kick him again when suddenly, Tom's eyes rolled back into his head and he slid to the ground.

"I told you he couldn't be trusted." Standing before her, was none other than Derek Maxwell.

"That wasn't Brandon, it was his friend Tom." Rain muttered. She kicked the guy in the side, despite the fact that he was already unconscious.

"Are you OK?" Derek asked, trying to read Rain's expression. Her eyes were dark with many things; anger, frustration, disgust, and surprisingly, guilt.

Without saying anything to him, Rain stepped over the jerk known as Tom and hurried off down the dark street, away from the party. The girl needed air. She needed to be away from the boy whom she may or may not have gotten away from just as much as she needed to be away from her rescuer.

"Rain! Wait!" Derek said, grabbing her arm. She whirled on him, tears in her eyes.

"Quit helping me!" She yelled, frustration tying her stomach in knots.

"What?" Derek's near violet eyes were glowing in the moonlight as he stared at her in surprise and confusion.

"I didn't need your help." Rain hissed, shoving Derek against the wall of a dark house. No doubt, the owner was at the party down the lane. Her eyes were stinging as she forced back the warm tears building in them.

"Rain..." Derek said gently, reaching to touch her face. Despite the tears, she looked beautifully innocent. She was a warrior angel and Derek had clipped her wings.

"I am so sick of being rescued." Rain choked out, part angry, part sad, and part scared.

"Rain...I-."

"No. I HATE you Derek Maxwell!" Rain screeched, slamming him against the wall again for emphasis.

If possible, Derek's eyes got even wider. Rain was going crazy. Sure, she had told him before that she hated him, but he was too worried about her mental stability at that moment to point it out to her.

"I hate you." She repeated in a whisper.

"Why?" Derek found himself wondering aloud.

Guilt wrenched Rain's heart. It made her angrier. She didn't want to feel guilt. She did not want to recognize that Derek had done nothing wrong. All he had ever done was love her.

Before he knew what he was doing, Derek leaned forward and kissed her, hard, on the lips. It was the most frightening and exhilarating feeling he had ever felt in his life. Especially when Rain, with just as much force, kissed him back.

Then Rain fell apart. She loosened her grip on his shirt and clung to the boy instead. She continued to kiss him, but in an entirely different way. As tears continued falling down her cheeks and shivers caused by so many emotions at once made her tremble, Rain kissed Derek desperately.

Derek wrapped his arms around her as they fell to the ground; Rain curled up in his lap. With her face buried in his shoulder, Rain cried. She cried because she had been cruel to him. She cried because she had hated him. She cried because she had gone after someone else. But most of all, Rain cried because through all she had done to him, Derek had not given up on her.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." Rain kept repeating it over and over. Derek in return, whispered comforts while he rocked her back and forth and caressed her hair.

-xx-

It was hours later that Mei Li and Chelsea found Rain and Derek, curled up together atop the covers of the bed Mei Li was supposed to be sharing with Rain.

"Great." Mei Li grumbled, realizing that the pair was not moving any time soon. "You better not steal all the covers." Mei Li said threateningly to Chelsea.

"You have permission to hit me if I do." Chelsea said with a quiet laugh.

"Don't think I won't." Mei Li smiled despite her threat.

"I believe you. You've got your dad's temper." Chelsea teased. Skillfully, the Wales girl yanked the blankets out from under the sleeping couple without disturbing them. It reminded Mei Li of the way certain waiters and waitresses could strip a table of its tablecloth without disturbing the dishes on top.

"Cool." Mei Li remarked, forgetting the comment about her temper.

"Thanks. I have many unknown talents." Chelsea joked as she carefully pulled the covers over the sleeping pair.

"So I see." Mei Li shrugged and pulled the covers back on her own bed. With a tired yawn, she crawled atop the mattress and flopped her head down on one of the pillows.

"Night Chica. Don't forget, I will kill you if I wake up without any covers." Mei Li murmured sleepily, closing her eyes.

"Sure." Chelsea said, crawling onto the opposite side of the bed and pulling the blankets up. The blonde was asleep soon after her head hit the pillow. It had been a long night for everyone.

-xx-

June 3rd, A.C. 217

Rain was lying in her bed, staring at the glow-in-the-dark stars her friend Chelsea had helped her paint on the ceiling the previous weekend. The painted stars had been a sign that things had finally returned to normalcy after the Mexico trip.

Derek and Rain were back together, happy as could be despite their "married-couple" bickering as often Chelsea called it. Rain simply smiled whenever Chelsea referred to them that way. She felt that it was better to get petty fights out of the way before marriage, when it really mattered.

Chelsea and Jason were pretty well off too. They had become an official couple on New Years Day. After they had kissed at the stroke of midnight, it became mutually agreed that they were an item.

Mei Li and Jack were an odd couple. The two were constantly flirting with other people. But, as everyone knew, they were head-over-heels for eachother. It would take a lot more than flirting and joking around to break them apart.

With a glance towards the papasaan across the room, Rain smiled. Draped across the circular chair was her full-length formal gown. The following night was the senior prom. Rain, Chelsea, and the others were of course, attending with their senior counter parts.

To say she was excited was an understatement. Rain had never been to a formal dance before. Of course, she and Chelsea had watched dozens of teen movies about proms and homecoming dances, but they had never personally attended any. The two girls had plans to meet up at Mei Li's house an hour before dinner to finely attune their hair and make-up for the big night.

Startled out of her thoughts, Rain looked at her bedroom door when the light knocking had sounded. It was nearly two in the morning, Rain wondered why anyone would be at her door.

"Rei-chan?" Came the quiet voice of her younger brother, Robbie.

"Yeah...I'm awake, whatcha need?" Rain asked.

The door opened and Rain watched as the dark silhouette of her brother crept into her room.

"I need you to come with me to see something outside." Robbie said quietly. He looked rather nervous.

"Outside? At two am?" Rain asked suspiciously.

"It's important." Robbie assured her.

"Is something wrong?" Rain asked, worried about her younger brother's odd request.

"No. But, I need you. Please?" Robbie asked, his eyes wide in the dark room.

"All right." Rain sighed and pushed the covers back.

Tiptoeing past her parents' room, Rain followed Robbie down the stairs and towards the front door. Her curiosity and imagination were getting the better of her. In her heart, Rain secretly hoped Derek had sneaked over for a late-night rendezvous.

When the two Yuy children had nearly reached the front gate to their home, far out of sight of the house, Robbie turned to face his older sister. The boy was physically shaking.

"Robbie, what's going on?" Rain asked, shivering despite the warm night air and dry grass beneath her bare feet.

"I...I'm sorry. He found me at school. He said he just wanted to talk, but I didn't want to go alone..." Robbie said shakily.

"What? Who wanted to talk to you? Robbie, what's going on?" Rain, felt her heart thudding in her ears as her fear got the better of her.

"Why, me of course."

Whirling around, Rain felt a scream of surprise catch in her throat. Anger and fear coursed through her as Shelly smiled down at her.

"This is so much better. Thanks Robbie. I had only hoped to take you home with me, but now that your sister is here, we can all go together." Shelly said with a wicked smile.

"Robbie! What did you do?" Rain heard her own voice tremble as she stared at Shelly in horror.

"What did you expect, I AM his father after all..." Shelly said matter-of-factly.

"No, you are not a father you're a monster." Rain said, annoyed at how her voice was still shaking.

"What's wrong my dear, you are not as happy to see me as I thought you would be." Shelly said, playing with Rain's hair.

Jerking away from him, Rain sucked a deep breath into her lungs and prepared to yell.

"DA-ouf!" Rain coughed as Shelly punched her in the stomach before clenching both hands around her throat.

"Shut up you stupid bitch!" Shelly growled.

"What are you doing to her?" Robbie asked, terror in his eyes. "You said you just wanted to talk to her!"

"I did. And now we are done talking. Now, it's time for her to learn her place." Shelly said, tightening his grip on Rain's throat.

Clawing at Shelly's hands, Rain gasped desperately for air. She could feel the energy draining out of her body. With all of her self-defense training and all the adrenaline pumping through her system, Rain could not manage to pull out of Shelly's vice-grip.

"You're hurting her!" Robbie wailed, tears springing to his eyes.

"She's a bad person. She took you and your mother away from me! They've been trying to turn you against me!" Shelly said, pulling Rain against him and only tightening his grip on her.

"No! It's not true! Rain would never hurt anyone!" Robbie cried.

"Oh yes, it's very true...this girl is plain evil. And such a shame, she is so pretty..." Shelly loosened his grip on Rain. The teen fell to the ground, coughing and trying to refill her lungs.

"No, she isn't!" Robbie said, hands clenched into fists as he fought the battling emotions inside himself.

"Don't you see Robbie! They are all in on it together! They took Relena away from us! Then they took you away too! They are the ones you should be angry with, not me." Shelly said, calmly as he pulled a gun from his pocket.

"No, Okaasan, she told me...She told me what you did..." Robbie said quietly.

"It was lies." Shelly said, seemingly annoyed as he kicked Rain in the gut, causing her to double over again.

"Robbie..." Rain choked out, trying her best to get to her hands and knees before Shelly kicked her in the side, knocking her down again.

"Tell him Rain, tell the boy about how you and your father stole Relena and filled her with the same lies." Shelly barked, pointing his gun at her head.

"Is it true?" Robbie asked, his words chopped by his sobs.

"No..." Rain coughed painfully. She wondered if Shelly had cracked her ribs with that last kick. "No, Robbie..."

"Tell him!" Shelly said, leaning down and touching the gun to her temple. At the same time, Shelly kneeled on her chest, forcing the air from her lungs again and causing pain to ripple from her injured ribs.

"No..." Rain said, barely managing to form the words.

Shelly clicked the safety off the gun and pressed it harder to Rain's temple.

"Wrong choice my dear." Shelly whispered.

"IIE!" Robbie cried, rushing full-speed at Shelly. Like an all star football player, Robbie body slammed Shelly and knocked him to the ground, causing his gun to go off with a loud bang.

"You little shit!" Shelly screamed, regaining himself and pinning the young boy to the ground. "You are so stupid! You might as well be one of them!"

"Iie..." Robbie thrashed wildly, trying to throw his insane, biological father off of him.

"How could you defend her? You should have sided with me, your own flesh and blood!" Shelly said, wrapping his hands around Robbie's small, adolescent throat.

"Onee-san wa...honto deshita..." Robbie choked out.

"No...she is a stupid, slutty, lying-" Shelly was cut off as a loud shot rang out. The raving man, choked on his words as he fell forward, limp on top of Robbie.

Sucking in a few deep breaths, Robbie crawled out from under Shelly's limp form and stared at the crumpled man. Blood was pooling beneath him.

"Oh...kami-sama..." Robbie said, gasping.

The young boy looked past the limp body and saw Rain, kneeling on the ground, clutching her side, Shelly's gun still in her hand.

"What did you do?" Robbie asked, horrified.

"I...he was trying to kill you!" Rain said in a pain-filled whisper. Breathing hurt like hell. Speaking was even worse.

"But...he...he was my father..." Robbie said, rolling the crumpled form of Shelly onto his back. Shelly's eyes were closed and his breathing was very shallow. It was a wonder he was breathing at all. The man had lost blood like an oil tanker in a bad oil spill.

"Robbie, he was an evil man! He would have killed you!" Rain said, tears in her eyes. Se dropped the gun and halfway crawled to Robbie's side.

"Iie. He would not have killed me Rei-chan. He was my father...he wouldn't have..." Robbie trailed off. His eyes were suddenly angry.

"Robbie..." Rain said, trying not to cry as her brother glared at her. The Yuy girl was at a loss for words.

"You're a murderer... You killed him...How could you...?" Robbie squeaked.

"I...Robbie...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." Rain choked out. "I am a murderer..." Rain stared at her hands. They were trembling.

Getting to her feet in a daze, Rain turned towards the gate. Her body felt numb. The pain in her ribs was barely surfacing in her consciousness as she scaled the tall fence and leapt down to the other side.

Robbie would never understand. The only thing to do was to get away from him. So, she did. Rain ran. She ran barefoot along the side of the deserted road for what seemed like forever. No matter how long she ran, she could not escape the look that Robbie had given her.

-xx-

June 30th, A.C. 217

It had been nearly an entire month since the last big battle against Trey Shelly. Robbie had been devastated. He felt it was entirely his fault for the whole ordeal. If Robbie had simply told Heero or Relena about Shelly being back, they may not have had a murder on their hands. Or, if anything, Rain would not have fled.

In reality, it had also been three days since Rain's disappearance. The Yuy family was beyond worried. They had all assumed that she would have turned up. They had imediately checked the Wales residence and the Maxwell residence. When Rain was at neither home, they had checked with the rest of her friends and family members.

Not one had seen Rain though. The family was beginning to fear the worst. The Yuy family had been in hiding. With their family's records, it was nearly impossible to involve the government. The Preventors had put in a lot of hours searching for the lost Yuy daughter. But, even the world's top detectives had turned up empty.

Robbie was sitting in his sister's room, looking longingly at a picture of the two of them during a water war that Spring. The pair were both smiling wickedly, arms raised, prepared to launch waterbaloons at one another.

Things had been going so well. And Robbie had ruined it by contacting his biological father. The Yuy's had warned him. They had, in fact, saved Robbie from the evil man who had kidnapped his mother years before his birth.

The Yuy boy jumped, dropping the framed photograph in his hand to the carpeted floor with a dull thud. He jerked his gaze towards Rain's desktop computer which had beeped noisily and rebooted itself. The computer had always been in sleep mode, but Rain had sometimes accessed it from other locations using a hacking system her father had taught her.

Robbie watched with his mouth gaping open as the computer screen blinked to life and words began to scroll across the screen as though someone were sitting there typing at that instant.

"Okaasan! Otousan!" Robbie yelled. He watched, breath caught in his throat as he read the words forming on the screen.

"DEAR FAMILY, I AM FINE. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT ME. I HAVE A JOB AND A PLACE TO STAY. PLEASE DO NOT LOOK FOR ME. I LOVE YOU ALL AND HOPE THAT MAYBE SOME DAY THINGS CAN BE RESOLVED. PLEASE TELL ROBBIE I AM SORRY. I LOVE YOU. -RAIN."

-Owari-

Author's Notes:

I know I took way too long to update everyone. I am terribly sorry. I have had absolutely NO time to work on this story. Alas, after hours and hours of skipping homework. I have it done! That is the end on "Always There For You." But don't worry, I am making a sequel.

I started this story back in 7th grade. I am almost done with my senior year of high school now. This story means so very much to me. I have gone so many directions with it! I mean, you plan a story one way, and by the time you finish it, you find yourself thinking, "did I really write this stuff? I never thought I would write something like this..."

And there it is...done, finito. My gosh, it doesn't seem like the end, does it? This has been my everything for years now! Be kind to it! If you flame me, I will NOT be happy.

So, look out for the sequel to "Always There For You" , "I Will Wait Forever" coming soon!

Please don't forget to review! To all my beloved readers and my muse Skye. THANKS SO VERY MUCH! I would have given up ages ago if it were not for all of you. Thank you thank you thank you!

-AlyRain 


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